The Great Super Smash Bros Rescue
by MemoryWriter
Summary: Conner, a 16-year old gamer and reclusive shut-in, goes into the virtual world of Super Smash Bros. While inside as a 'PLAYER' he uses his skill to fight as any character to progress through the world in search of his little sister, hesitantly accepting help from his partner & best character, Link, and his best friend Jo, a girl he grew up playing against and may be falling for.
1. Video Game Life

** CHAPTER 1: THE GAME OF ALL GAMES**

_While Conner and his best friend Jo are at home, their Super Smash Brothers Game goes haywire, and sucks in Conner's little sister._

* * *

A young boy sits on the floor of his living room, playing his game absentmindedly. "No," the girl beside him mutters, constantly pressing the button. "No," she mutters again in an innocent frustration. The match is reaching its end.

The boy bites his lips.

"No...!"

"Saying 'no' to the screen isn't going to do anything, you know," Conner mutters after the third 'no'.

Jo pouts. This isn't the first time this so called conversation has come forth when they'd play Super Smash Bros. "Sorry. Force of habit you know that," she apologizes.

"I win."

"Huh?!" Jo turns to the screen to see Conner having tossed her character off screen, signaling the end of the match. Their two characters appear, with Peach clapping behind in 2nd and Sonic up front with 1st place. "Aw, you won."

"What with how spaced out you get it's no surprise," Conner scoffs.

Jo sighs, putting down her game cube controller. "Alright, break's over. We need to finish our homework at least."

"Aw come on one more match. To finish my streak."

"Dude we've been on break for like, three hours," Jo chuckles, dragging her school bag towards his couch. She and Conner were in high school, anxiously waiting the next few days until summer vacation would start.

As Jo starts to bring out her books, she sees her little brother coming in and trying to steal her gamecube controller on the floor, with him and Conner both fighting over it. "I wanna play!"

"No way squirt I'm beating your sister first! I wanna complete my streak!"

Jo subtlety smiles, shaking her head slightly before spotting Conner's little sister around the corner. "Hey Elise," Jo waves. Elise shyly waves back before heading into the kitchen, wordless as always.

Elise is such an adorable girl. She looks just like her brother, but, in little-girl form. They're practically opposites too, with her being so shy and quiet. But Jo knows that girl is probably the most important thing in Conner's life. She saw their bond since probably day one.

It's been years since Jo's and Conner's family started the baby-sitting routine where one family watches all four kids and back and forth. Jo and her little brother Andy, and Conner and his little sister Elise. And there was one thing that held the elder siblings together.

"I WANNA PLAY!"

"No way!" Super Smash Brothers.

Jo takes her school stuff to the kitchen for a quieter place to work. It's a little more peaceful, though she can still hear Conner and her little brother arguing over the second controller. "I still don't see why he doesn't just let him play," Jo mutters, setting up her stuff near the table and the fridge.

She notices a couple of photographs held up by magnets on the fridge, of her and Conner in their childhood – a good number of them playing Super Smash Brothers. It was like they were obsessed, and Jo smiles in a small hint of laughter.

"Whatever," she hears Conner say. Before long he's waltzing into the kitchen to grab a water.

"Finally gave up the Controller?" Jo asks.

"I let Elise and Andy play, for now," Conner frowns, sitting across from me at his table. He takes out his own books, but when he opens them, Jo notices the empty lines, void of words.

"I could help you catch up, you know," Jo frowns, noticing how far behind the guy was.

"It's fine," Conner refuses, clicking a pen.

Jo doesn't say anything else, but for once she's a little sad that he isn't asking for her to do his homework for him. How ironic, right? Growing up, Conner used to be the slacker, and Jo the goody-two-shoes bookworm. And in between their babysitting game-play on the GameCube and Wii, he would get her to do his homework for him if she lost the match.

And she lost a lot.

"You sure?" Jo asks one more time, a little concerned he won't be able to finish by tomorrow. He had probably two weeks worth of work to due in the next four hours.

"I said it's fine," Conner repeats with a face. "I'm like, fifteen now. I can do my own homework."

Such foreign words to Jo she was hearing. Jo frowns, sort of knowing the reason behind this. Ever since Conner's dad left, she had noticed something change in her friend. He became more reclusive; quiet. A loner if not for her and Elise needing to be babysat every now and again.

It's like… he doesn't want to rely on anyone else. _Even me_.

Conner won't accept help from anyone anymore. Jo even talked to him about it once in school, but he'd just say excuses like 'it's growing up' or 'maturity' or whatever he could think of to change the topic, but Jo knew better. _He was so close to his dad… Does he really not believe in people anymore?_

"So…" Conner speaks up, bringing Jo out of her thoughts. "You're awfully quiet."

"Hm?" Jo asks, looking up. "Ah no, just thinking."

"Is it about that Tyler guy at school asking you out?" Conner teases, a toothy grin coming up.

A fluster of red flies to her face. "H-How do you know about that? Whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't like him anyway."

"Why not? He's a big guy. Aren't girls into big buff dudes like him?" Conner asks. "Oh, wait, sorry I forgot you're not into relationships yet, you pre-pubescent boy." A glare in return from the girl. "Well you are."

"It's biology and genetics, Conner. So I'm not as full as the other girls at school - So what?" Jo says, trying to hide her annoyance by the topic. She was used to being teased by Conner, but it still hurt.

"What do you mean 'so what?'. Hot girls are hot girls and _you_ need to get there someday, even though you probably never will." This is also why he never finishes his homework. He likes patronizing. "So with a guy like Tyler coming after you, well, why not? It's not like you're Samus so take what you can."

"You're horrible you know that?" Jo laughs, tossing a pencil at him.

"Alright alright. Just small talk is all."

Jo laughs a little, but she frowns a little. "Small talk, huh?" _Since when did we ever need to resort to small talk_? Jo notices his distance from everyone at school, how Conner never talks to anyone anymore – just video games and food and sleep. His only social contact now is with his little brother, Elise, and her. Mostly her, and Jo knows that isn't a good thing.

Sure he may act like himself a little bit with her, but, it' not good. Sooner or later, maybe he'll even drift from her. And secretly already, it felt like her best friend was slipping away. There're days he ignores her, days he stays aloof to himself, days he pushes her away to the point she feels saddened or guilty for something that isn't her fault.

"AAAHHH!" a girl's voice screams from the living room.

Conner and Jo both shoot up their heads.

"Jo! Jo I need you!" Andy's voice screams.

"Andy?!" Jo rushes panicked, wondering what happened to her little brother. Conner runs right behind, also knocking over his kitchen chair.

Back in the living room, the two teens rush to a halt at what they were suddenly seeing. Winds are blowing everywhere, but not from the window. Instead, the television screen is somehow open and swirling, like a vortex. "What the hell?!" Conner yells, one hand on the wall and the other on Jo's shoulder.

"Andy what'd you do?!" Jo screams, unable to comprehend what's happening. Weren't they just playing Super Smash Bros?

"Where's Elise?!" Conner demands, realizing she isn't in the room. He prays she never was, but when Andy panic-stricken looks to the once-TV-screen, his eyes widen in horror and anger. "No."

"Something happened! She got sucked inside and-!" Andy shields himself with his arms as another gust of wind comes from the vortex.

Jo holds her arm open like a protective mother. "ANDY GET OVER HERE!" she yells over the winds. The little boy runs to her waist, but Conner squeezes her shoulder for a second before walking forwards against the winds. "Conner! Conner what're you doing!?" Jo calls out.

"I need to find Elise!" Conner shouts, actually feeling the winds trying to push him away. _How the hell is this even possible? Is it even? What the hell is this anyway?_

"Let me come with you!" he hears Jo shout.

"NO!" Conner holds his arm back to halt her. He couldn't bring her with him. What if it was dangerous? _Can't drag Jo into this, too_. "STAY HERE! I'LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE!" Conner could still hear Jo's cries after him as he unwillingly jumped into his 'screen'. And his ears hold onto the girl's calls after him as he fell and fell and fell, until he could hear her no more.

But now, his priority was finding his sister, and returning home to Jo. But important things aside, where the hell was he going? _What have I done to myself….?_ Little did Conner know, but he had just flung himself into what he thought was his favorite game – a game that he'd never look at the same way ever again.

* * *

**Location: **Home

**_Featured Character Profiles:  
_**  
**Conner Bensen**  
**_Partner: Link_**  
**_ Strength: POWER_**  
**_ Player Color: Red_**  
**_ WEAPON: Beam Sword_**

**Preview:**

**_"You're on the screen, Conner. You have four lives and zero percent damage. You're IN the game, you do understand me!"_**

**_x-x-x_**

**_"That shadow," Conner says, squinting his eyes. And standing there was a trademark character of the game. "Link…"_**

**_x-x-x_**

**_"Like I said before, something weird is happening in this world. And I don't mean just Eldin Bridge either. Other Stages too; strange stuff acting up and all. I can't get to the bottom of it by myself, and something tells me you being here has to do with it."_**

**_Conner narrows his eyes at Link. "Are you saying my being here is causing all the strange stuff to happen?"_**

_**"No. But maybe you're here to help stop it," Link suggests seriously.** _


	2. The Bridge of Eldin

** CHAPTER 2/ BRIDGE OF ELDIN: THE ERRORS OF CODE?**

_Conner awakens inside a Brawl Stage inside the game. However when enemy monsters begin to attack, Link, a famous star in the game, comes to his rescue. But Conner is reluctant to accept help from the ally._

* * *

Darkness… calmness… Everything felt alright yet… he knew it wasn't supposed to.

_You need to wake up…_ a woman's voice spoke in his head.

_'No shit,_' Conner replies internally, unable to move his body in the floating darkness he could feel around him. But no matter what he tried, he couldn't move. Mm, does he really need to? '_Argh, what's the use. This feels nice the way it is. Why do I need to wake up? Just because you tell me to? I don't even know you.'_

_Don't you remember what you came here to do?_

_'What is HERE anyway? I don't need you. Get out of my head. Leave me alone.'_

_You need to remember._ All of a sudden, painful strikes come in , like a headache. Conner would wince if he could. _Remember why you're here_, the woman says again. First he hears someone calling his name, for help. His little sister. '_Huh…?_' And then someone else calling his name. _'Jo?_' The girl who always holds a strong composure, despite her quirks. He's never heard her sound so desperate and worried before.

_'I… I came here to find something… so I could go back home… Elise…? ELISE!_'

"ELISE!" Conner shouts, all sensations returning like a bullet. His eyes shot open, his torso sitting up, and that splitting dizziness that comes with sitting up too fast. Conner holds his head, like he'd landed on it or something. "My head…!"

Conner opens one eye to look at his surroundings. It's… sunset? "Am I outside?" he realizes. He's sitting on a cobble stone path, and a long one at that. And looking down, it was a far way down. The sun wasn't even out enough to show anything else of the area. Just a red sky and a tension-filled breeze. It looked familiar somehow.

"How did I get here, anyway?" Conner says to himself, standing up slowly. He then notices marks running down his left forearm, standing from inside his wrist. _Tattoos?_ First a 0% mark, then underneath a very faint triangular image he can't make out. And then running down from that mark up to his inner elbow were hearts; There are four of them.

Conner rubs his hand against it, like it'll wipe off. It doesn't. "What kind of mind game is this…?" Conner freaks out. _It's just like…!_

"C- ….-Conner can—reach me?—C-Conner- Hear?!"

That twerpish voice. "Andy! That you!" Conner demands. He's just about ready to rip someone's head off. "What's going on?!"

"You're in the game!" Conner hears from the sky. He can't see the source, but Andy's words answer his question. He's on Eldin Bridge, a Stage in the Super Smash Bros. Game. And Elise was nowhere to be found. "You're on the screen, Conner. You have four lives and zero percent damage. You're _IN_ the game, you do understand me!"

"Yeah but…!" So many questions are running through his mind. Can he take damage? Can he die and come back to life? What could happen if he loses all his lives? Is anyone else here? Too many questions and probably not a lot of time. How was all this even possible in the first place? "How can I hear you?!" Conner shouts to the sky.

"I connected a wireless headset to your Wii! But my controllers don't work. I can't play the game and I can't control anything – I don't even want to find out what happens if I press Restart-"

"Don't you dare!" Conner panics. "Elise and I are still here! And we don't exactly have instructions on how to get out!" _Elise_. "Hey brat can you see Elise on that screen of yours?!"

"No. Just you," Andy's overhead voice answers. "Just you and your stats at the bottom. I can't see your sister, Conner."

"Damn it," Conner curses. All of a sudden, a horn blows, and Conner knows exactly what that means in this Stage. "Andy! Andy what's happening?!"

This time there are no responses from the world of home. Conner's alone, and communication is impossible. In the distance across the cobble stone bridge, he can see a figure riding a hog, going in his direction. And there's nowhere for him to run.

Conner begins shaking his arms, trying to see if he can do anything. "Come on come on! Do something! If you're in the game you have to have some kind of attack power! DAMMIT!" With nothing happening and the infamous Hog closing in, Conner awaits the worst with pride. "Shit."

Suddenly, he feels a wind hit him in the back. At first Conner thinks the wind is knocking him towards the Hog, but instead it shoots hm up in the air and over the hog, like you would do in the game. The wind makes Conner land rough, rolling across the bridge far away on the opposite end before the middle of the bridge can disintegrate into dark energy – as the Stage does in the game.

_Damn that hurt…_ Conner winces as his arms push him up, and he's two inches away from the ledge of where the bridge disappeared. He gasps, seeing just how far he was flown. "H-How…-" Conner hears the Hog galloping away on the other side of the bridge, but a dark figure stands in the shillouete of the sun. Did _he_ save him?

"That shadow," Conner says, squinting his eyes. And standing there was a trademark character of the game. "Link…"

The man clad in green, Conner's savior. There was something about the situation that he hated, having to have been saved. But at the moment more questions were arising. Suddenly, Link jumps up into the air, and with that trademark spin attack, gives him an extra boost of air time to land on Conner's side of the bridge and over the gap. Conner sits back, looking up at the character. _Will he kill me too?_

Link then extends his hand, and Conner almost winces. "You alright?" Link asks, showing no hostility.

Conner has to register this first before shutting his eyes and turning his head. "I'm fine," he says lowly, refusing the hand and standing up by himself. Link's hand hesitantly returns to his side. "Why'd you help me?"

Link looks taken back by his hostility. "Um, you were going to die?" Link shrugs, like it weren't obvious. "The least I should get is a thank you, I think."

"Well I didn't ask you to save me. I could've dodged that by myself."

Link scoffs, suddenly regretting saving this kid. "Yeah. I could tell by the way you were sprawled out on the ground. If it weren't for my boomerang attack you would've gotten trampled."

Conner stands up, dusting himself off. "Whatever. I have four lives left. I can handle myself fine." _The stupid Hog isn't even a real enemy in the game anyway_.

"Four lives," Link repeats, taking notice the tattoos on Conner's arm. "_You're_ a Player…?" he asks, in disbelief. "You're supposed to have the power to save this place?" Link scoffs, and it somehow offends Conner. "Wow."

"Mm." Conner takes a good look at Link. Maybe this is just some dream? Maybe he fell asleep doing homework in the kitchen with Jo. That's it. But what if it wasn't a dream?

On the other side of the blown up bridge, Link and Conner take notice of a couple Goblin monsters forming together, all waiting for the bridge to reappear so they could attack. Were they going to attack? "So many weird things are happening already; now this?" Link says to himself, preparing his sword. "These Goblins don't usually do anything in this Stage. Why they're suddenly forming and attacking is beyond me."

Conner arches his eyebrow. "So you know you're in a game." He just called this place a Stage.

"Aren't we all?" Link asks, assuming a battle stance. "Get behind me."

Conner somehow takes offence to not being able to defend himself. "I can protect myself fine."

Link rolls his eyes, but a black substance appears over the bridge, rebuilding the Stage particle by particle. And once the Eldin Bridge is repaired, the surplus army of Goblins begin to charge, as does Link. And all Conner can honestly do is stand by and watch. A few items would appear out of nowhere to aid Link, but nothing particularly useful or helpful.

_Andy and Jo can probably see this from the screen back home, but can't do anything either. Damn._ Conner clenches his teeth. If Jo were here, she'd be telling him to help. _But who am I kidding? I couldn't help even if I wanted to. I wouldn't sand a chance_.

Conner observes all of Link's moves – moves he knows by heart through his old Game Cube controller. Sword slashes, bows and bombs and boomerang attacks. Link was one of Conner's best characters, probably his very best. It was strange seeing the game in this light.

But still, Link had a point. The Goblins were never really part of this Stage. They never attacked, or multiplied. Something was wrong. "Now I feel like crap," Conner utters under his breath, clutching his fists at his side. He sees Link taking attacks from the Goblins ganging up on him, and somehow, Conner could see an invisible number hovering over Link's head if he focused enough.

Damage 76%. His number's getting redder and redder. Any wrong move and Link could be blown off this place. And who knows if he'll come back.

Suddenly a noise from behind Conner emits, and an item appears randomly, as they do in each match. It's a blue glowing sword that he recognizes. "Beam Sword."

"AGH!" Link gets a direct hit from a Goblin, only for their number to grow. Link looks up from the ground, unable to bring out his shield before a Goblin jumps up to deliver a final blow. Link prepares himself, but the hit never comes.

Swords clash, but Link's isn't involved. Believe it or not, the person who stands between Link and Death, was the loner stranger from before, now holding a glowing Beam Sword. "You?" Link blinks, surprised.

"Found this lying around," Conner winces, finding holding off the Goblin's club with the sword a little easier than he thought it'd be. Conner notices his tattoo of damage percentage go up to 5%. Nothing dangerous, but now he knows. _No way am I strong enough physically to hold off a club that huge. I guess whatever stress my body goes through here converts into damage or something_

Conner musters a yel and makes the Goblin fly back and into itsown army. Breathing heavily, Conner is suddenly very out of breath from that suddenly blow to the enemy. He glances at his arm. Damage 20%.

"Thought you were a loner, kid," Link laughs, standing himself back up with his sword. With a damage percentage of 70, Conner could understand how hard it must be for Link to stand. Conner could barely stand 20%.

"You saved me before. We're even," Conner musters. _This feels too real, meaning my sister is seriously somewhere in this place._ Conner looks back at Link, who's in no condition to fight. _If I wanna find her, I'm gonna need someone who knows the place at least_. "You said before that I was a Player, right? What does that mean?"

Link breathes heavily, enduring the pain and standing back upright. "See those tattoos on your arm? I don't have those, and neither do a lot of people around here. If you're a Player, that means you can Sync up with us here to fight enemies – Synching up meaning you can control our movements; make us stronger. If you know how that works."

Conner scoffs. How anime/game like does that sound for intro-dialogue. "Heh, back home I was pretty good at this game. Do you trust me enough to Sync up with me?" Conner asks his new aly.

"Maybe," Link says, beginning to trust this stranger too. "I'm practically dead already. I could go one way or the other and still have the same results. Can you control someone with this much damage already? One hit to me and I'm gone."

Conner nods, seeing the Goblins regroup. "Let's go."

An instinctive energy high runs through Conner. He feels it, and somehow so does Link. Synchronizing thoughts, melding minds, feeling what the other feels – it's all a concentration that Conner just suddenly picks up, whether out of desperation to survive or to find his sister Elise. Either way, something was happening.

Both Conner and Link charge through to the army, and the battle Royal over Eldin Bridge resumes. Clashes of metal echo through the space as the duo's fighting style coincides together. Yeah their movements don't mirror each other exactly, but it's a strange empowering feeling. To Conner, it's as if he can feel Link's natural power stirring through him – the power of the Triforce or whatever. He had it.

And just so, Link could feel an instant power up himself from his new ally too. His attacks are the same as ever, but new knowledge flew through his head. Combos and timing, circular force field shields appearing for defense and symbols of circles and As and Bs and all this new information that just boosted his power and speed. _So this is the fighting style of a Player. Amazing_.

Nonetheless the army continued to build, and Conner's trength was weakening fast. He was focused on making sure Link received no more blows, that e forgot about himself. His own damage: 50%. But unknowlingly, a bright light appeared out of nowhere above the bridge. A circular sphere, with a glowing symbol all too familiar to Conner. "A Smash Ball…!"

"Smash Ball?" Link fends off another Goblin. "What's that supposed to be?"

Conner narrows his eyes. "We'll find out. Link we need to break open that Smash Ball fast!" Who knew what it'd do here, but they had to try.

Among the sea of Goblins on the narrow bridge, Link manages to hit the floating ball once. Then Conner hits it again with his own Beam Sword item. _One more should do it_! With one powerful jump, Conner flies towards the Smash Ball, as does Link. When both their attacks hit it, the light shiens brighter, engulfing the entire Stage.

Time seems to pass forever, but Conner knows it's only a second or two. When he opens his eyes, he feels such a surge of power through his body. He feels slightly taller as well, and no weaknesses whatsoever. "What…" Conner looks at his hands, and finds his attire changed. His dark hair was neatly kept at the sides of his face, and a familiar green tunic assembled with other things. It was like, he and Link had fused. "What happened."

_"That Smash Ball, that's what_," Link says from within his head. "_We must've fused powers, but it's only for a limited time. I can feel it_."

"I know," Conner replies, gripping Link's sword. A Master Sword now. He noticed all the Goblins around him, surrounded in a tensions fear. "Good thing I know what kind of attack you have when you get a Smash Ball."

Instinctively, Conner raises his right arm with the sword, and it glows even brighter. "FINAL SMASH: TRIFOCE SLASH!" The golden symbol appears over the bridge, as they as one attack every single goblin o the bridge in lightning speed. Before long, the symbol fades, and all the enemies have perished into pixels. All that stands on the bridge is Conner, floating back down to the ground. When he does, his glow and power high ceases, and in a burst of light, he and Link are separated once more. And the Power of the Smash Ball flies back up into space above them, as if nothing had happened.

"Whoa," Conner blinks, releasing a breath. He feels his arms, and they're back to their thin non muscular selves. His tattoos are the same, as is his damage. But more importantly, his four lives were still intact.

"So that is the great power of a Player's Smash Ball," Link speaks up. Conner turns around to see a just as roughed up Link, also looking at his hand. "The Triforce Slash. I've never used that attack before."

Conner laughs a little inside. "… Thanks, he says; words he hasn't said in a while. "For helping me."

Link makes a sympathetic face. "Hey you helped me too. Like you said, we're even." Link offers his hand again, this time for a hand shake. "The name's Link. And you, stranger?"

Conner would normally turn down friendly gestures like this, but he needed to swallow his pride if he were ever going to get out of here with his sister. "Conner."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In the forever sunset stage, Link and Conner were sitting on the edge of the bridge, with food Link managed to find God knows where. If this entire world is a bridge, where could he have found these? Then again, things pop up out of nowhere in Super Smash Bros. Perhaps the same laws apply to food.

"Eat. These replenish your health," Link says.

Conner holds his tongue, wanting to say he knew that, but he needed to stop bein rude. Jos been telling him that for a long time. May as well start now. _She's probably worried sick about me and Elise… I wonder if she can see me on the screen_.

"So how'd you get here, anyhow?" Link asks, eating one of the fruits. "I've never seen you here before, and we never get visitors, much less Players."

"Are there other 'Players'?" Conner asks, using finger quotes.

Link shrugs. "None that I know of. I've only heard of them; people with those tattoos. With _lives_."

Conner arches his eyebrow. "Don't you have multiple lives here?" Link shakes his head, and Conner feels a weird blow. Despite knowing he could die at any given time, Link still defended him. And all he was was… rude. _Now I feel like a jerk. Great_.

"Players are like chosen ones or whatever. Nothing I totally get but, you guys, you should be able to do bunches of things _we_ can't. Like hit those glowing Smash Ball things. I've never seen one in person before."

"I could tell," Conner laughs.

Link shakes his head. "I've only heard of them. They come to you to grant you power under dire circumstances of when you show true courage or something of the sort." Link notices Conner's face. "Cheesy I know but, what can you do."

"Well whatever it was, it saved us." "This is so weird."

"What is?"

"Being here. In my game. One second I'm in my living room and the next, I'm here looking for my sister."

"Sister?" Link suddenly turns serious. "There's more of you?"

"She flew in here first and I came in after her to bring her home. I haven't seen her, though," Conner suddenly feels very worried. He barely made it out alive if it wasn't for Link. What about Elise? Would she be- He didn't want to think about it. "I have to find her as soon as possible, before anything like this finds her."

"Maybe she can defend herself like you."

"Not Elise," Conner frowns, for once showing his vulnerable side. "She's just a kid. She doesn't even play the game well, much less knows what's good or bad here." And there are scarier things in the world of Super Smash Bros besides background goblins coming to life.

Link appears to sympathize, and gives a half smile as she plays with his fruit. "I know the feeling of worrying for someone like that."

"Zelda?" Conner scoffs. Link sends him a weird 'how do you know?' look, but Link shrugs it off.

"Right. Player knowledge," Link laughs. "Freaky. But, you know what? I'll help you."

Conner has to do a double take. Was he serious? "Find my sister."

"Why not?" Link shrugs, looking down into the darkness below the bridge. "Like I said before, something weird is happening in this world. And I don't mean just Eldin Bridge either. Other Stages too; strange stuff acting up and all. I can't get to the bottom of it by myself, and something tells me you being here has to do with it."

Conner narrows his eyes. "Are you saying my being here is causing all the strange stuff to happen?"

"No. But maybe you're here to help stop it," Link suggests seriously. What a cliché plot twist, Conner imagines. "I don't like it either, but we're cornered. And honestly, Syncing up with you – you really know what you're doing."

"Think so?"

"I've never Synched with anyone before, but I get a sense you're probably one of the best I'll ever find, if there are any others." Link looks up. "I was told this would happen one day. I just didn't imagine this soon."

"So what do we do now?"

"Check out another Stage – see what's going down there. Find help?" Link's winging it? "But we should stick together as partners."

"Partners," Conner says skeptically. The word 'partner' didn't exactly come across as his style.

"It's a risky thing, having its up and down sides, but it'd be best if you want to survive in this place."

_So by 'partners' he's talking about something totally different._ "What's the downside?" Conner asks warily.

"For one, your lives automatically sync up with mine," Link starts off bluntly. Conner suddenly feels very hesitant about the whole becoming partners thing. "So if I die, it takes away from yours. Meaning your four lives – they'd become mine, too."

"There better be one hell of an upside then."

Link scoffs a laugh. He could get along well with this stranger. "Luckily there're more good sides than bad. For one, my power stats get transferred to you, meaning a little better speed, endurance, energy – better than you normal human stats that's for sure."

"Super human," Conner nods. He could live with that. "What else?"

Link rubs his head, trying to remember. "I know there's more but, I can't quite think of it right now. But those are the two more important ones."

Conner hmphs. "They'd better be. If I lose all four of those lives, who know what could happen to me. The last place I'd ever expect to die is in a video game. That'd be a crappy way to go."

Link makes a face. "So…you'll do it."

"Kind of leaving me no choice," Conner says with a full mouth. "I mean yeah my lives are at stake twice as much, but I could use the higher stat boost if I want to survive. We both have things we wanna accomplish here, and as much as I hate to admit it, I need you and you need me, right?" Link looks caught off guard. "…What?"

"Nothing. You just, took it all easier than I thought you would."

"Normally I'd say no. I'm not a team player and I don't do partnerships. But, I think my sister's life is on the line." _And Jo… Have I really been this cold to her all this time?_ He wonders if he'd been treating his best friend as badly as he'd been treating Link. If he has, he felt the utmost urge to apologize to her, not that he'd tell Link that. "I need to get home."

Link grins, content, finishing his food. "Well, then, partners it is."

Conner eventually nods, taking one last bite of his fruit. "Partners." The instant Conner agrees, he feels a tingle in his left forearm. Link and he both take notice of the faded symbol under the now 0 damage percentage, and right above his first life-heart. It's that triangle symbol – and after a light passes through, it's in the shape of a black tattooed Triforce.

"A Triforce," Link notices.

"Your game symbol," Conner reads in. Whatever he agreed to, it must be permanent. Finishing eating, he stands up with the purple Beam Sword tucked away into its own handle, now stowed away in his pocket. Without Link around, he'd at least have some form of defense. "Well then, we better go."

"Agreed," Link grins. _This should be interesting_. Automatically, a portal appears beside Link. Conner wonders if all the characters of the game have the ability to create portals to other Stages. Link loos back at his newfound comrade. "You coming?"

_No going back now_. "Yeah." With that, Link and Conner pass through the portal, leaving Eldin's Bridge for who knows where.

* * *

**Location: **Bridge of Eldin

**_Featured Character Profiles:  
_**  
**Conner Bensen**  
**_Partner: Link_**  
**_ Strength: POWER_**  
**_ Player Color: Red_**  
**_ WEAPON: Beam Sword  
LIVES: 4_**

**Preview:**

**_"Jo what're you doing here? How'd you-?"_**

**_"I followed you," Jo says. "If you're going to look for your sister then I'm coming with you."_**

**_x-x-x-x_**

**_"Nothing here," Conner speaks up._**

**_"But there has to be," Link turns. "I still sense some disturbances in this world. Something else is here."_**

**_"You mean the other Monsters?" Jo speaks up. Conner and Link both look at her instantly. "Earlier before you two arrived, there was a bigger monster creating the ones you guys rescued me from."_**

**_"They must've been after you and your lives," Link says, taking her arm and looking at her hearts._**

**_x-x-x-x_**

**_"I can't lose you here, Jo…"_ **


	3. Fountain of Dreams

** CHAPTER 3/ FOUNTAIN OF DREAMS: FAMILIAR PLAYER PRESENSE?**

_Link and Conner arrive in the Fountain of Dreams Stage - surrounded by glowing rainbow water and stars forever. But another Player is present in the game. And it's Jo, Conner's friend from back home. What is she doing here and how did she get here? EVen more important, will Conner let her stay?_

* * *

Coming from the portal, Link and Conner walk towards the light that engulfs them. When it fades, they are in a new world whose beauty takes Conner by full surprise.

"The Fountain of Dreams Stage," Link introduces cautiously, looking at his surroundings.

"Fountain of Dreams is a Melee stage," Conner recalls, looking everywhere. At the night sky, the glowing land and slow rushing water under his feet. As moist as water can be, his shoes magically weren't getting wet, nor was the water seeping into his socks. Only in a world like this, he figured. "Wow," Conner gapes. Jo and his little sister always said in the Melee game that this was their favorite stage, since it was the prettiest.

The area in the game is usually limited. Small. But here in quote on quote 'real life', the circular platform ran much longer. And the rectangular plates they could jump on were numerous and everywhere in the sky. Towers surrounded the edges from where the dream water floated down, like magic. Endless and soothing.

"Don't let your guard down," Link warns, reminding Conner of their purpose. "You think your sister could be here?"

"Who knows," Conner says, honestly having no idea. There're bunches of Stages she could possibly be in. What are the odds of running into her now? "What about you? Do you see anything wrong with this place?"

Link holds up his sword, and sinks it into the ground somehow. Conner observes, watching Link concentrate. "There're enemies in this world," Link announces, standing back up and pulling out his sword. "Be on guard."

"AHHH!"

Link and Conner look around, startled by the source of the scream. "Was that your sister?" Link panics.

"No but-," Conner's breath stops. _–But I know that scream_.

Conner suddenly begins running, despite Link's protests they stay together. As Conner runs, he pulls out his Beam Sword and activates it; the glowing purple light radiating strongly. Conner's speed has also increased slightly, and he didn't feel tired in the least bit. _That voice_!

"STAY AWAY!"

Conner turns at a purple tower to see a bunch of small monsters, trying to climb platform after platform, and their target is the utmost top one. Conner squints his eyes to see who was at the top; most likely the one who screamed. One of the small monsters, little things with beady yellow eyes, almost make it to the top until their prey accidentally kicks them back down.

"Jo…?"

"Conner!" Link yells behind him, but he slows at the number of Monsters before them. "What-"

"They're attacking my friend," Conner cuts him off, preparing his Beam Sword. "We have to get her."

Without further questions, Link and Conner are off battling the little monsters, finishing them off one by one. They must have faced at least forty of them before the entire area was cleared. By then, both Link and Conner are a little out of breath. But it's nothing too bad so far. "There aren't supposed to be any monsters up here," Link speaks up, lowering his sword.

"Guess you're adding this to your list of weird happenings then, huh?" With the battle over, Conner deactivates his Beam Sword and looks up to the tallest rectangle platform. The shadow of a girl with long hair appears to be looking over, quietly. And by the look in her eyes, he knew. _Jo?_

"I'll get her," Link says, hurriedly jumping up platform by platform with a strength Conner could only wish for, even with 'equal stats'. Conner watches Link reach the top one, but they're so far up he can barely see what's going on.

Meanwhile perhaps ten stories up, Jo sits paralyzed from the height, battle, and the green stranger coming up closer and closer with each jump. When he lands on her platform where there is barely room for two, she winces in fear before recognizing the man before her. "You're…."

"Come on," he offers in a friendly tone. With his arms Link scoops the girl up and jumps back down the way he came.

Conner remains grounded as his ally jumps back down, with a girl in his arms. Jo. Link places her down on her feet as Conner walks closer, confused. "Conner!" Jo gasps, running to him and tossing her arm around him.

Conner stands still, startled by her presence and the hug. Link smiles warmly at the reunion. "Jo what're you doing here? How'd you-?"

"I followed you," Jo says, not breaking the hug. Conner can feel her voice beside his head, and she holds him tighter. Her tone – she really was worried about him. "I couldn't just leave you, and the vortex was beginning to close." Jo loosens her grip enough so she could see his face. "If you're going to look for your sister then I'm coming with you."

Conner still remains speechless, least expecting his friend to be here. Surprising both her and Link, his face hardens. He removes her arms from his shoulders. "No. You're not."

Jo's expression changes to one of confusion. "What?"

"It's dangerous here. Go home," Conner orders, suddenly very aggressive. If there was any relief or happiness in seeing his friend, it was gone. Instead it's replaced by an unknown anger "You shouldn't have followed me, Jo. I said I'd go back didn't I!"

"Well how would you know that? What if you got stuck in here forever!" Jo began to yell back. Conner tries his best not to look too surprised at her outburst, but he couldn't hide it. Jo was never one to yell back, much less in a loud voice. Jo was a soft spoken person, a kind spirit with no back bone. Who was this girl? "What if we never saw you again, huh?! What if we couldn't find a way to bring you and Elise back, and we-" Jo's moment of anger began to melt away back to her old self. Her eyes were beginning to shine with tears, but she hurriedly erased them with her arm. "I had to make sure you were alright," she finishes calmer, looking down.

"Jo." Conner suddenly feels guilty for lecturing her. But even if he had to make her cry, the last thing he wanted was for her to be here. What if something happened to her, too? _Great, another one to babysit_.

"Hey, no arguing," Link says, assuming mediator-mode. Jo looks up and sees Link, and looks back at Conner questioningly. "Um, I guess you two know each other," Link starts.

"She's from my home," Conner simplifies. "She must've followed me here. Link, do you know a way back to my world so we can bring her back?" He ignored Jo's widened eyes. _I know you want to stay, but you can't_.

Link looks regretful. "Sorry. Maybe it's possible but, I wouldn't know how. All I know is how to transfer between Stages."

"I see." Conner looks down at the reflective floors, half an inch high in dream-water. _So she's stuck here too, whether I like it or not… And I just yelled at her_.

Link notices the awkward silence between the two and process to walk. "Come on. Let's see if we can find your sister around here before we go."

Before long, the three are moing forward, circling towers and platforms for Conner's little sister. The only thing audible is the sound of their footprints splashing along the puddled-ground. Other than that, the silence between them all is deafening, and Link looks back every now and then worried. He can see Conner's original cold shoulder expression, mirroring Jo's uncomfortable and somewhat guilty-looking one. Two totally different personalities, Link imagines.

"So, your name's Jo?" Link speaks up for small talk, keeping his eyes forward. Though, he can kind of feel his partner's eyes glaring into his neck.

"Huh? Y-yeah," she replies. "And you're Link."

Link smiles, then shakes his head in wondering amazement. "Players. They know everyone's name."

"Player?" Jo repeats.

"Long story," Conner mutters rudely, looking away from her and still a little angry. _I don't even know what I'm angry at. Jo didn't do anything so why am I being such a jerk to her? Wasn't I telling myself earlier at Eldin Bridge that I wanted to apologize to her for acting like this?_

As they're walking, 'searching', Conner discretely looks over to Jo to see her arm. It's barely visible from the way she's walking alongside him, but he can make out a tattoo of a heart there in her left arm. _So she is a Player_. Somehow knowing so worries him more.

"Nothing here," Conner speaks up after their endless circles end where they first started.

"But there has to be," Link turns. "I still sense some disturbances in this world. Something else is here."

"You mean the other Monsters?" Jo speaks up. Conner and Link both look at her instantly. "Earlier before you two arrived, there was a bigger one creating those you guys were fighting before."

"They must've been after you and your lives," Link says, taking her arm and looking at her hearts. Conner sees exactly the same tattoos on her arms as his. Only he sees three hearts, not four. What happened? "If monsters like that are coming after you, it must be because you were alone." Link looks back to Conner. "Maybe that's why the Goblins were attacking earlier too at the bridge when you first got here."

"Maybe," Conner says unsure, putting the three-lives thing to the back of his mind. He had to remember to ask her later – when he got the nerve. "But if we can't see them then-"

Suddenly a spinning force comes down from the skies towards them, landing in between the three. All are blown back into the air and separated. Conner slides violently along the ground with the water softening his land. He notices Link and Jo far away from him and each other.

The golden spinning force between them stops, and their cape unveils his identity: Meta Knight. "You," Link glares, getting to his feet. "Were you the one creating the monsters?!"

Meta Knight remains silent, taking out his sword instead and preparing for battle on the fountain. Conner does so as well and has a new sense of dignity to fight. He had to keep Jo safe. "LINK GO!" The two partners fly in at a speed faster than before, only for Meta Knight to dodge and block with his own sword. Metal clashes one on one on one as Link and Conner fight to keep their silent adversary busy so the third of the could get away. _Jo you have to get out of here!_

. The huge blow forces all of them at a distance, and a final attack is underway between the three. As Meta Knight charges in flight, Link and Conner run towards him too. Link's and Conner's sword against Meta Knight's. Full blast. But just before the attacks can hit, something rushes in between. "STOP!"

Link's eyes widen and Conner uses all his power to cancel his attack, but he can't. "_Shit_!"

When everything blows, Conner's hands grip his sword. Was he able to cancel his attack? He couldn't tell. Everything was happening so fast. And that was Jo's voice! Was she stupid enough to seriously come in between all of them and their attacks? There's no way she could've survived! And… was all his fault?

As the smoke clears, Conner's eyes search desperately for the girl. And standing there in the middle, totally unscathed and standing true with arms extended, there stood Jo, defending Meta Knight.

"She's, alive?" Conner breathes, relief overshadowing his confusion. Maybe they were able to cancel their attacks after all. _But how? Our attacks hit and…_

"Don't hurt him!" Jo shouts, arms up with Meta Knight behind her, sword frozen from mid attack. "He's not bad!"

Link remains warry. "How do you know?"

"Because he saved me!" Jo defends, not willing to lower her arms until Link lowered his sword. Conner was too speechless to keep his sword up. "How else do you think I managed to climb up to that top platform back there? All by myself?" Jo asks nervously.

Conner has never seen this side of Jo either. Sure they talked about defending those they cared about in the face of danger, but home never really had situations to provide that alternative. He wondered if he'd have the guts to go what Jo did; Jo, a spineless girl who's looses to him every time at Super Smash Brothers, a goodie-two shoes who dresses weird and sticks her nose in books all day– risked her life for a stranger who saved her from a few monsters?

"Meta Knight, you're alright?" Jo asks.

Meta Knight stares at Jo for a moment before putting his sword away. "Yes," he speaks for the first time. At that, Link follows the suit and Jo is able to lower her tired arms.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There's no way to tell when it's day or night I this place, or perhaps in any Stage for that matter. But as if it were night, the four were seated around a small glowing fountain, emitting a bit of light and warmth. Like a campfire, make of um, water.

"Forgive me for attacking," Meta Knight explains, now that they were all at peace with one another. Sort of. "When I returned to find Ms. Jo and she wasn't where I'd left her, I assumed she'd been taken. Seeing here with you, I could only assume-"

"It's fine. You were just trying to protect her," Link nods, elbowing Conner.

"Yeah," Conner coughs out stubbornly. He could feel a lecture coming on from Link later, not that he'd listen. _Geez, what's the matter with me? Why am I so negeative here?_ "I'm taking a walk," he informs, standing up.

"Hold on! It's not safe!" Link calls after him with an extended arm.

"I've got my Beam Sword. I'll be fine," Conner assures, back turned and already walking away. He just needed a minute alone to cool all perhaps. He never spends this long of a time with company. Maybe it was getting to him. He needed space.

Conner manages to travel to the edge of the Fountain of Dreams. Standing a few inches away from the ledge, he can see into the infinite violet darkness, illuminated by auras and mist and lights reflecting from the huge fountain of a land. And down below to where all the water fell, it was just a beautiful misty endlessness. This whole thing could've been more calming if not for the circumstances he was in.

"What's wrong with me," Conner mutters to the beautiful darkness. "Maybe it's just being here in this game…? No… I've _been_ like this."

For a moment, Conner reminisces of all similar behavior back home. Sure his sister and Elise put up with him, but that's because they're nice. Even bratty Andy puts up with him. He plays less with his sister at home. He's not as sarcastic or joking with Jo anymore. He shuts them out sometimes and won't tell them why.

"You're pretty close to the ledge there."

Conner looks back and see Jo walking a distance away behind. "Jo."

"So you do remember my name," she says, appearing beside him.

"Hmph, it's only been a day. Not even," Conner mutters. "What do you want."

"Just checking up on you," she says softly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just needed some space is all."

"Oh! Uh, sorry. I probably shouldn't have come then-"

Before she can continue walking to leave, Conner grabs her arm. She stops, but he doesn't turn around. "Hold on," he starts. "Don't you think all this is weird?"

Jo's face mellows, but she doesn't move. "You mean being in the game?" she asks. "To be honest I'm probably as freaked out about this as you were. I jumped in right after you so we probably landed in the game at around the same time." Jo turns her head around. "So you've made Partners already."

How does she know that term? "How do you-"

"I pick up on things," Jo reasons. "The tattoos – they're the same stats that show up in a match in Brawl. Keep damage low, don't lose lives. It's that simple right?" she pauses. "Plus when Meta Knight first saved me, he and I learned a thing or two from each other about what could be going on. He's not that bad a guy so don't be too hard on him."

Conner has no idea what to say to her first. To ask about her three lives? What else she knows? What doesn't she know? "Why haven't you partnered up with Meta Knight yet then?" he asks instead. Conner lets go of Jo's arm finally and turns around to face her. To look her in the eye for the first time since he found her. "If you know as much as I think you do, then you should know partnering up with him would be good for you. Safer."

Instead Jo shakes her head. "It's not like you and Link. You're _good_ at Brawl, Conner. And you're good as Link. He's your best character. But, me?" Her smile falters a bit. "You know I'm not that great. I can't play as any random character like you can. If I partnered up with Meta Knight, I'd only bring the both of us down because I wouldn't know how to fight with him."

"So, you just plan on staying solo for all this time?" Conner asks. "That's stupid."

"Says you. I'm surprised you even accepted help from someone like Link," Jo accuses. Another surprise to add to today's list. Jo never attacked him like that, or at least subtlety. "You've been like this for a long time, Conner. And, I've left it alone because, because I thought you'd go back to your old self eventually but…"

It's upsetting to admit Conner knew what she was talking about.

"… Hm, even in a game world like this I still ramble about nonsense," she says to herself. "Sorry. In the end no matter where we are I'll always because you trouble. I guess I shouldn't have followed you after all. I'll, leave you alone now. Forget what I just said now."

Conner is about to let her leave. He's done this multiple times in the real world. She'd follow him around that staircase at school. She's check on him sleeping in the gym. She'd find him sitting on his roof balcony, hiding from family. And after so, she would leave and he'd let her walk away. And the same was happening now.

"Jo!" Conner shouts. She's a fair distance away already. Had he been thinking that long he let her walk away that far? But she must hear him because she stops, and looks back sadly. By then, Conner's run up to catch up to her. "I'm sorry, for yelling at you before."

Jo looks taken back. Must be at his apology. It's rare. "No it's fine – I yelled at you too so…"

"No," Conner refuses, letting things rise back up to the surface. "For back home, too. For all the times I've snapped at you and said stupid shit and, all the times I made you feel like crap that I don't even know about!" He can't look her in the eye while saying this, but at least he was finally letting it out. "And I swear I was never mad at you, Jo, not even for you following me."

He can feel Jo's stare soften. "Then, why'd you say all those things?"

"You idiot. Look at your arm!" Conner grabs her left forearm to turn it over to the inside, showing off her missing fourth life. "I can't lose you here, Jo…" Conner squeezes her arm to the point he thinks he could be hurting her, but she doesn't budge or say anything. "That's why you can't be here… We have no idea what happens here if we lose all our lives, and you already lost one somehow…!"

"Conner."

"I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't mad at some things back home, but if there's anything I can admit now it's that I could never be mad at you," Conner says quietly, still holding onto her. "For some goddamn reason you still stick this jerk, and I'm grateful. You don't deserve some loser like me as a friend. Hell, you don't deserve to die here. I'm sorry Jo. I'm so sorry-"

He's cut off by Jo's soft shoulder. Somehow, he missed her quick embrace because now he's locked in her hug. "Stop it now," she says in her always soothing tone. Somehow, he can sense her smiling. "We're friends. You have your reasons for acting the way you do, even if I don't understand sometimes. So don't apologize for it." She hugs him tighter, a habit he used to get mad at her over. But he doesn't say anything this time. "Like you said, what matters now is finding your sister. I know I probably won't be much help but… I want make sure you get home safe, too."

Conner's head jumps, and finally he thinks he understands why she came in after him. His body shifts, and surprising her more, he returns the hug. "Thanks, Jo."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile back at the small fountain, Link and Meta Knight continue their conversation. "So the bigger monster you were chasing before got away."

Meta Knight nods. "I wish to take care of it before it finds Miss Jo again. She is a player without a partner and is very vulnerable."

"She can't partner up with you?"

"Unlike you and your Player, Miss Jo and I are not compatible, as much as I wish we were. She'd be safer having an aide to fight alongside."

"Compatibility?" Link repeats with distaste. "But if it's life or death then shouldn't it not matter-?"

"Players don't come and go in this world very commonly, Link. You know that. If Players can cross over then the reasoning must be dire. Such is the reason you and your partner found each other when you did."

"Conner?" Link scratches his head. "I'd call it a spontaneous meeting but, if that's what you want to call it."

"I'd like to believe Miss Jo's partner is out there somewhere in our world. When they meet, she will know."

Link seems skeptical, but their private conversation halts when he looks up and sees the returning human duo. "Hey she brought him back."

"Found him," Jo smiles, reuniting with their party. But before the peace can be established for long, a rumble from the ground can be felt by all by their feet. It's like an earthquake, and the group can barely keep their balance.

"It's back," Meta Knight prepares. As everyone braces themselves, their foe shoots up from the ground, creating a hole where all the random water begins to flow down. The upwards crater causes everyone to fall back, and for Meta Knight for fly up. Conner scans his surroundings. "LINK PROTECT JO!"

Somehow that's the first thing Link hears in the midst of the madness. With the sound of roars and smoke clouding his vision, Link uses his boomerang to clear the smoke and locate Jo. He sees her flying towards a close ledge off the Stage. "No," he grits, using his speed to catch up to her. He grabs the back of her shirt and uses their force to toss her back towards the ground. While successful, Link's accidentally forced himself over the edge and is about to fall. "Oh man…!"

His left hand grips his sword and his right arm reaches up. He can't fall here – not with a four life limit.

Suddenly a hand grabs his gloved on, and Link sees his partner's friend up on the ledge. "Hold on!" she forces out, tossing her other arm to help support his weight. The added pressure is upping the percentage ever so little on her damage tattoo. "Don't worry I'll pull you up…!" she musters out.

Link watches nervously as the girl tries to hoist him. She isn't strong enough, and the harder she tries, the more damage she inflicts on herself – Link can see the damage percentage on her wrist raising one by one, slowly reddening. "Stop; You're raising your damage!"

Meanwhile back on the Stage, Conner already has his beam sword out and is dodging multiple attacks from their new enemy: a huge circular bad guy with robotic arms. _Never saw this enemy in Super Smash. Bros before_. He skids across the cracked floors with his sword slowing his drag, and Meta Knight hovers nearby.

"I saw Miss Jo and Link on the other side. They're alright."

"Good," Conner nods, getting another look at this tall monster. He could see its HP bar. "I've never fought something like this before." _And Link's not here for me to sync up with._ Conner looks to his floating ally and suddenly gets an idea. "Say, Meta Knight." He has his attention. "How do you feel about Syncing up with me?"

"Syncing with a player," Meta Knight phrases, dodging another attack from the monster alongside Conner. "Hmph, never thought I'd live to experience it. How good are you?"

_I've played as Meta Knight before. I can take him_. "Good enough." With that said, both charged at the said monster under the agreement of a Synchronization. Codes of buttons and symbols are viewed in vision between Meta Knight and Conner and they circle their foe, slashing into it with their swords and combo attacks.

"Drill Rush! Mach Tornado!" Conner shouts, sending controller codes to Meta Knight. As if holding a controller in his hands, it was like he was playing the game with a second brain, all while running and jumping and having his own sword around like an idiot with his partner's super human stats. It felt amazing.

"Ah!" Link and Jo sit on the sidelines, exhausted from their battle with gravity. Linkw as now safely on solid ground, but his savior was near 70% damage for all the self-inflicted stress she went through trying to hoist him up. She was exhausted, and barely able to sit up.

Link is holding her up with her arms, grateful but now on alert due to her high damage percentage. "You're a real trooper you know that?" Link sighs.

"Heh," she smiles, eyes barley open. She hears a crash and looks to the side where the battle is. The giant monster is impossible to miss, as well as the two attacking forces. "No way… that's Conner?"

Link nods, sitting up her a bit more to give her a better view. "Yeah." _He must be synching with Meta Knight. Geez, a kid who can sync with more than one character._ Link smiles. _Must be something_.

"Finishing strike!" Conner shouts, him and Meta Knight closing in together. "DRILL RUSH!"

x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After the monster was defeated and blown away into the skies, everything here in the Fountain of Dreams seemed to repair itself. The giant crate the demon popped out of digitized itself back to a linear plane-ground. The half inch high water was restored to the floors and everything was fine.

Conner and Meta Knight assessed the damage done to them – nothing they couldn't fix with some healing items later on. Conner smiled in response to Meta Knight's nod. "You fight well," Meta Knight commends, rather surprised. "From my knowledge, Players tend to lean towards one of us to be able to work with. That doesn't seem to be the case with you."

Conner couldn't very well say he understood exactly what Meta Knight said, but hearing the clicking of footsteps and swishing water, he could see Link walking towards them, with Jo in his arms. What happened to her.

"Is Miss Jo alright?" Meta Knight asks on his behalf.

"I'm fine," Jo frowns, then up at Link. "I said I could walk, you know."

"Not on your damage percent you're not," Link smiles.

Conner looks instantly to her arm. He can't see her damage number, but she still has three hearts. Relief washes over him. "Damage? What happened on your end?" Conner asks curiously.

"She-"

"I tripped over some glass somewhere and impaled myself by accident," Jo responds sheepishly still in Link's arms. She could sense Link's stare, but otherwise Conner believed her.

"Seriously?" Conner sighs, walking up to her eye level. He crosses his arms skeptically with his sword. "Come on Jo I figured here you could at least be a bit cooler. How do you trip here?"

Jo tries to shrug with what little energy she has. "I dunno. Good thing Link was there, right?"

Conner tries to keep a straight face, but it softens to a sympathetic smile. "Alright then, so where to now?"

"There's a Stage you can go to, to reset your damage," Meta Knight says behind them. Conner stands aside. "Link, there is a Secret Stage called 'The Hub'. You can transfer there to heal."

"The Hub," Link says with an odd face. "Never heard of it before, but I guess that's why it's a secret stage." With some kind of metal will, Link opens a portal to their next destination, wherever that may be. The portal glows bright, and while Conner's seen one before, it's like the first time.

"Will you be coming with us?" Jo asks weakly. Conner can see her eyes drooping. She must be exhausted from her high damage.

"I'm afraid not. I must remain here until I am needed again," says Meta Knight. He looks to Conner and Link. "I trust Miss Jo is in your good protection."

"You can count on us," Conner nods seriously.

"We'll see each other again," Meta Knight closes as Link and Conner walk into the light.

The feeling of going through a portal is a strange, calming feeling. Like time slowing down or something, even though your body is just walking forward a couple of steps. However, when the light clears and they reach the next Stage, they find themselves in a huge dynamic room, colored in a shiny reflecting white. It's the last thing Conner expects to land in, because it's so unfamiliar.

"This is so not in the Game," Conner stares, wondering if there're any enemies in a place as… domestic as this. There were tables and chairs. White couches. Monitors and computer box things. Food machines. What… what the hell was this?

* * *

**Location: **Fountain of Dreams

**_Featured Character Profiles:  
_**  
**"Jo" Ramos**  
**_Partner: ?_**  
**_ Strength: DEFENSE_**  
**_ Player Color: Blue_**  
**_ WEAPON: ?  
LIVES: 3_**

**Preview:**

**_A brunette boy clad in white, with angelic heaven-sent wings dons a third arrow, ready to fire. It's Pit? "Alright, who are you guys and what're you doing here?!" he speaks._**

**_"What're we doing here? What about you!" Link yells back in defense, aiming his sword at the stranger. "This is a Secret Stage. No one else should be here!"_**

**_x-x-x_**

**_"No fair I can't see her fight." Pit pouts. "Just because she doesn't have a partner doesn't mean she gets the excuse to sit back."_**

**_Suddenly Pit starts to fly away from Link and towards a new target. "Hey!" Link calls out, wondering what Pit was doing. He's going for Jo!_**

**_"Pit stop it right now!" Pit's partner lectures from the ground beneath Pit._**

**_Pit prepares another arrow, aiming it at Conner an Jo. "Whatever. She's a player, too. I just wanna know if the dead-weight can do anything." He squints his eye for aim. "Let's see."_**

**_x-x-x-x_**

**_"Your bodies weren't waking up," Andy says. "They're moving your bodies to the hospital right now, guys." What the hell was happening here?_**


	4. Secret Stage: The Hub

_**CHAPTER 4/ THE HUB: PLAYER VS PLAYER**_

_**After finding Jo, Meta Knight sends her, Conner and Link to the Hub - a secret stage within the game where players and characters can rejuvenate their health between fights. However someone else is present in the assumingly alone stage, and conflict arises between the two new groups.** _

* * *

"Here," Link offers reluctantly, holding out a weird circular piece of food to the still tired-out Jo.

Jo, resting on one of the white couches, takes it curiously, squeezing it and pinching it before sniffing the object. "What is it?"

"Some food-substance that's supposed to bring your damage back down to zero, I think," Link says, crossing his arms. Jo still looks suspicious. "Don't worry. Conner took one earlier to test it out first for you. It's kinda tasteless but it does the job quickly."

"He tried it first," Jo realizes, looking down at the blue bread-like circle. She smiles a little at the thoughtful gesture before biting into it. The feeling of a rushing rejuvenation runs through her, and her face brightens up. "Hey I'm starting to feel better."

"That's good," Link smiles, glad his partner's friend is well.

Jo bites more into it with more energy. "So, where's Conner? I don't see him."

"He said he'd look around. This is a new Stage I've never been to. I don't sense any dangerous things here but Conner wanted to make sure."

"Ah," Jo frowns, looking at her half eaten food.

Meanwhile, Conner's scouting the second room of 'The Hub', which is basically a huge white gym. Never has he seen a place that was so architecturally white. It was pretty bright, and slightly eerie at the same time. Conner whistles, only for it to echo a little.

"_Palutena's Arrow!_"

Hearing the faint voice, Conner becomes alert and barely dodges a light arrow aimed at him. It sides across his cheek before he sees the arrow go into the ground, stuck before dispersing into light glowing dust. _An attack_!

Seeing so, Conner stumbles back a bit before running back to the main lobby. He had to warn the others. "Link! Jo!"

Back near the couches, his two companions see him dashing towards them frantically. "What happened?" Link asks before noticing the blood in the cut on Conner's cheek.

"Someone tried to attack," Conner manages out while catching his breath on his knees. Jo sits up a little while Link grabs the hilt of his sword. "We're not alone."

As if on cue, another arrow comes their way. Link jumps and blocks the incoming arrow with his sword, protecting Conner and Jo. "Show yourself!" Link yells, prepared for battle. Conner too has his hand near his pocket, ready to pull out his Beam Sword.

From the entrance to the gym flies in a character Conner and apparent Jo also recognizes. A brunette boy clad in white, with angelic heaven-sent wings dons a third arrow, ready to fire. _It's Pit_? "Alright, who are you guys and what're you doing here?!" he speaks.

"What're we doing here? What about you!" Link yells back in defense, aiming his sword at the stranger. "This is a Secret Stage. No one else should be here!"

Conner steps up with his own sword to aide Link. "What I'd like to know is why _you're_ here. This isn't your Stage. Did someone send you here to take care of us? Do you have my sister?" Conner demands.

Jo sits back I silence on the couch, frozen at what to do.

Pit glares instead, arrow still at aim. "I don't have to answer to a bunch of suspicious goons like you. You're going down!"

"Hey Pit!" yells another new voice, causing Pit to lower his arms and bow a bit. Conner looks to see another kid coming out of the gym entrance. He's a blonde teen with some messed up hair, like he just woke up. "What's with all the yelling? I said you could do whatever but as long as it was quiet-" The groggy teen then notices the audience before them. "Oh."

Conner studies the stranger a bit more before it hits him, and he deactivates his Beam Sword. "Ace is that you?"

The kid 'Ace' narrows his tired eyes, squinting before familiarity hits him, too. "Conner no way?" he smiles, suddenly awake.

Jo watches on, and Link's guard is still up. "You know these guys?" Link whispers.

"Yeah. It's my classmate from school back home," Conner blinks. Who- what was this guy doing  
here? Conner puts his sword hilt away into his pocket and walks up past Pit. Conner always found himself to be a shorter-than-average guy, but compared to Ace he was a midget. Ace was a pretty tall Arian, and got a bunch of girls' attention in school despite his intense Brawl gameplay. "Wow it's really you, Conner grins.

"I should be saying the same to you, man. You haven't been showing up to AV club for months. What gives?" Ace asks, doing a bro-knuckle touch with Conner.

"Ah just stuff at home," Conner lies, waving his hand. His face returns to seriousness. "But what're you doing here? How did you-"

He shrugs. "I got sucked into the game one day while playing Brawl in my room," Ace informs, Conner listening intently. "Eventually I ran into Pit and became Partners." Ace shows off his arm, and Conner is relieved to see Ace still has all his four lives. And under his 5% damage is a symbol of an arrow and bow – the Partner/Character Symbol for Pit. "After that we came here to the Hub, and we've been hiding out here ever since." Ace leans and looks over Conner's shoulder. " Uh, Pit you can lower your arrows, you know."

Conner turns around to see Pit still angrily on guard. Link's sword is down, but by the expression on his face he could tell Link and Pit wouldn't be getting along any time soon. The two were stuck in an intense glaring competition. "And, I suppose you haven't seen anyone else yet either," Conner brings up.

"I didn't think anyone else from home would be here." Ace shakes his head. "I don't know a way home, and the only other things that come to this Stage is dust. I was trying to take a nap before I heard Pit yelling."

"Hey you said to attack any intruders, right?" Pit defends.

"Like I was supposed to know there'd be more of us," Ace shrugs, looking back at Conner. "In a way I'm kinda glad I'm not alone but, I guess us being here isn't exactly anything to be happy about."

Conner agrees. "So we all have no idea how we ended up here in the first place," he assess. "You haven't seen anyone else around have you? My sister?"

"Sorry," Ace apologizes, scratching his neck. Ace tilts his head and sees a weakened girl coming up behind Link, peeking out. "Who's that?"

"My friend Jo. She goes to school with us," Conner answers, looking back and seeing Jo walk up slowly. Shyly. He looks down discretely to check her damage. It's back down to zero after her food-replenishment, and a bit of relief washes over him. "Jo this is Ace, from school. Ace, Jo."

Ace holds his hand up to shake Jo's, and by the somewhat startled look on her face it's a firm one. But she warms to him quickly. "Hi. I've seen you around, I think," Ace smiles.

"And I've seen you," Jo laughs, her arms back to her side. With a reputation like Ace's it's impossible not to know the guy, but she's never met him personally. "Conner's told me about you. You guys used to play Brawl sometimes."

"Yeah last year during Sophomore Year. Suddenly this guy disappears of the face of the planet and my favorite opponent vanishes," Ace jokes, giving Conner a little shove.

A sheepish guilty look appears on his face, and he looks away from Jo's slightly worried eyes. Conner had stopped staying after school after a point. Stopped playing games with his friends, stopped going to after school things – stopped socializing all together. Conner always figured his 'friends' would've forgotten about him by now. He's surprised Ace hasn't. A guy like that has plenty of people to keep around. Why remember a loser like him?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So you got sucked into your TV too," Jo realizes. Everyone was back in the second room – 'the gym' they decide to call it. Away from the lobby of the Hub. There's some chrome white bleachers against one wall, and that's where they're situated.

Conner crosses his arms. "This is so freaky. And all at the same time, too." Link was sitting in a nearby bleacher bench while Pit was practicing his aim across the gym. "What happened when you first got here?"

Ace looks thoughtful. "Can't remember much. The second I opened my eyes I was already falling through the clouds in the Skyworld Stage." The Skywrld Stage – Pit's home stage. "It felt like I was falling for forever dodging monsters and things in the sky before Pit found me."

Conner, Jo, and Link look to Pit, hitting a spot in the wall with three quick arrows. Definitely strong.

"What about you, man?" Ace asks, looking to Conner.

Conner feels caught off guard by the question, not that he minded. In fact, Jo looked a little curious, too. "Uh, how did I wake up," Conner tries to recall. "I… woke up in the Bridge of Eldin Stage."

"That's where I found you," Link affirms.

"No but, there was something else. Before we met," Conner continues with difficulty. Link arches his eyebrow, and this mention catches the others' attention. Conner recalls someone arguing with him in his head to wake up. "… Voices."

"Voices?" Ace repeats. His listeners look confused. Clearly neither he nor Jo had the same experience Conner had when he woke up.

He shakes his head. _Forget it_. "Never mind. Maybe it was just in my head or some weird concussion dream."

"And Jo?" Ace adds. "I'm curious about you since you're the only one without a Partner."

"Yeah," Jo frowns, looking at her left arm's tattoos. She was so different. "I woke up in a random Stage, too. It's foggy but, Meta Knight found me first. Then Link and Conner showed up." Jo looks down, frowning. "I know what you're thinking. I should've made Meta Knight my Partner. That way I could at least fend for myself a little better. But… I just couldn't. Things here don't come as natural to me as they probably do for you guys."

"What do you mean?" Ace asks.

"My assumption is that the better you are at Sumer Sparsh Brothers, the higher your own skillset is here in the game," Jo assesses calmly and somewhat remorsefully. Conner, Ace and Link all look at one another in that realization. "I'm not a very good player. Conner you know that."

"You're good," Conner tries to defend.

But Jo's faltering smile says otherwise. "Thanks, but not good enough to be able to know how to use a Beam Sword like you. I bet even Ace has his own special abilities up his sleeve."

Conner and Ace exchange looks, thinking the same thing. Conner knew he wasn't a natural fighter, even before he became Partners with Link and had his Triforce mark tattooed into his skin. Yet, he picked up that random Beam Sword and ran in with some stupid courage and sudden swordsman instinct to save Link. And survived. Ace probably had something too.

"We should test things out here then," Pit says, appearing before everyone in flight and joining the conversation. The group turns towards Ace's partner. "We're in a safe zone aren't we? And we're in a gym. Obviously this is a place to heal up _and_ train."

"You want us to fight?" Conner asks, suddenly defensive. He still didn't like Pit.

Pit narrows his eyes. "Come on. What harm could we do? We have unlimited food here to bring our damage back down. And no enemies have appeared so far. What could happen?" Pit shrugs before eyeing Ace for his word.

"Mm," Ace frowns, unsure. "It would be good for us. To see what exactly we're capable of in a safe environment."

Conner remains hesitant, and looks to Link. Link's expression is the same, but he knows Conner's calling the shots. "So, Conner?" Link asks.

Conner doesn't want to fight Ace, but he was too curious how this all worked. And this would be their only opportunity to learn 'safely', for lack of a better term. "Okay," Conner says.

Pit grins, then eyeing Link. "Guess we get to pick up from earlier after all."

Link smirks, hand already on the hilt of his sword. "No complaints here."

Jo looks back and forth at her four companions, feeling uneasy. Conner could see that. As he steps down the bleachers, he pats her shoulder. "You can stay up here. Obviously you aren't fighting," he tells in a low voice.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks, but he walks away without answering her, ignoring her question. Her eyes low slightly.

On the so called gym, rough and white for battle, Link and Conner stand on one end while Ace and Pit stand on the other. Ace looks perfectly fine, like it's a tiny little sparing match between friends. However Pit, well, he looks like he's out to kill.

"So how do we do this!" Conner announces from his side.

"Normally we would Sync with our Partners! As if we were playing the game itself." Ace grins.

Syncing. So Ace knew the term as well. If Conner really understood it, Syncing meant forming a special connection with your partner where you could enhance each other's strengths. Link would have more combos Conner used to play, and Conner would have a bit more of Link's skills and stats for figting on his own.

Ace grins again. "But this time let's let them go on autopilot."

Conners's hands are already in his pockets, and he can feel his Beam Sworld Handle. "Do we fight, too?" Conner asks, preparing.

"Of course," Ace nods. So no Syncing. This should be interesting. Everyone's fighting on raw terms. Sweet.

Conner narrows his eyes at the calm blond. _Where's his weapon?_

A self-set timer from the gym starts off from 3. Then 2. 1. And the duos charge. Pit and Link clash with their respective fighting styles, and Conner charges with his activated blue Beam Sword. However he's hesitant to attack a guy without a weapon to defend with. However Ace surprises him with incredible speed and disappears in the blink of an eye. As a result, his sword misses and swishes the air.

"So fast," Conner breaths out.

"Totally," Ace whispers behind, only to kick Conner from the back and knock him over. Jo winces worried in the bleachers.

"Conner!" Link calls, barely dodging an arrow as it cuts through his sleeve.

Conner picks himself off the ground to look at his opponent. How did he appear there? And so quickly? Surely his speed isn't that great. "What…?"

"Becoming official Partners with a character, you pick up their physical stats right?" Ace reminds. Conner recalls Link's first explanation. "Sure I'm not as strong and agile as you and Link, but I think Pit and I definitely dominate the speed department."

"I see," Conner coughs with a competitive grin. "Speed's not all that great. If I wanted a high speed stat I would've gone for Sonic first." Conner pushes against his knee and picks up his sword, facing Ace. "This should be interesting."

Ace assumes a stance. "Our first Bawl match in a while, man. This beats fighting with handhelds by a longshot."

"I just might have to agree," Conner smirks with a laugh.

Before long, Jo observes Conner and Ace going at it with their superhuman strength and endurance. The way their attacks clash and mash, it's beautiful in a way. "Amazing," she watches, feeling a little useless and left out herself. Surely if she had a partner she could definitely be a little at their level. But even without one, Jo expected herself to have at least some kind of strength. But, she felt as normal as she did back home. No sudden bravery or mystery knowledge of how to use a sword.

Meanwhile with Link and Pit, Pit's flight was giving him total advantage of the battle. "Tired yet?" Pit teases from up in the air.

Link pants, already at a 40% damage rate. And he could see in the corner of his eye his own tiredness transferring to his partner's performance. Conner was slowing up against Ace a bit. "Come down and face me on the round you coward!" Link yells to his opponent.

Pit rolls his eyes, wings and all. "I'm bored already with you." Pit looks over at his Partner and Conner still sparring it off. He already knew of Ace's upgraded speed thanks to their alliance. And now he knew what Conner was capable of. But his curiosity switches to the lone girl sitting on the bench. Pit makes a face. "No fair I can't see her fight." He pouts. "Just because she doesn't have a partner doesn't mean she gets the excuse to sit back."

Suddenly Pit starts to fly away from Link and towards a new target. "Hey!" Link calls out, wondering what Pit was doing. _He's going for Jo_!

Jo freezes up a little, seeing the angel darting at her across the gym. Ace and Conner also pause in their fight at Link's yell. "Pit what're you doing!" Ace shouts.

All too quickly, Pit already has an arrow aimed at the girl. "Come on, let's see what you can do, too," Pit mutters before firing his arrow.

Before it can hit its target, even before top-speed Ace can reach Jo, Conner surprisingly does – surprising even himself. His sword deflects the arrow, causing both the arrow and sword to fly away.

Pit pauses in the air as Conner sends a glare up at the angel. Tension and mixed thoughts fill the room from that moment. Conner stands beside of Jo, a protective arm around her. An instinctive protectiveness has overwhelmed him. "Wasn't it established she be left out of this training session of yours?!" Conner argues, angry. "Ace!"

"Pit stop it right now!" Ace lectures from the ground beneath Pit.

Pit prepares another arrow, aiming it at Conner and Jo. "Whatever. She's a player, too. I just wanna know if the dead-weight can do anything." He squints his eye for aim. "_Let's see_."

Ace and Link yell out as the strongest arrow is fired. Conner is without his sword to defend himself with, so he shuts his eyes awaiting the worst. He had four lives at least right? But no matter what, he couldn't afford for Jo to lose another.

When he feels the impact, it's not what he expects. Or maybe the damage after he dies automatically resets to zero, so it's painless? Or maybe the arrow missed in a stupid chance of luck? But Conner opens his tightly screwed eyes, and sees a ray of blue instead. _Huh?_

The smoke from the attack clears, and then it dawns on him. He's not seeing blue – he's _inside_ a blue force field, those kinds you would use in the game when He'd press L or R on his controller. He'd used them before on Eldin Bridge, somehow. It was difficult and a spur of the moment thing then. _But my forcefields aren't blue_.

It was a force field that he didn't make.

Conner looks over his shoulder to see Jo holding a shaking hand up, and she looks quite surprised and startled herself that she generated it. Frightened even. "Jo," Conner watches breathlessly.

"She blocked my strongest arrow?" Pit stares in disbelief. Shock washes over the angel as well.

The shock of the moment hits everyone at different times, but for Conner it hits him first. "Your force field isn't shrinking," Conner says under his breath. If anything he's learned from playing the game or being in it, it's that overusing the force field shield drains your energy, and it slowly shrinks until it backfires against you. And you're gone. Conner knows that. He felt it. When he first landed, he could barely keep his shield up for more than two seconds.

But for some reason with Jo's shield…. It's not shrinking or depleting in the least bit.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Apologize," Ace lectures, arms crossed like a parent scolding a child. After Pit's quote-on-quote 'training session', everyone had returned to the Hub's main room where the white couches were.

Pit bows his torso in obedience. "Sorry."

Jo holds up her hands. "No it's fine-"

"It is _not_ fine," Link says before Conner can say so. Link holds his arm protectively in front of the sitting girl, glaring at Pit. It was obvious Link still didn't like him. "You could've killed her. She already has one missing life in case you haven't noticed." Pit's ears perk up and Ace's head jumps. They hadn't seen her arm, and Conner looks away shamefully. He was supposed to protect her. "From now on no more of bringing the girl into your insane practice fights."

"Right," Pit nods, feeling defeated. But he still didn't like Link by the look in his eye. However they change when he looks to Jo with a sincere apologetic look. "I'm sorry for shooting at you Jo. I wasn't thinking."

"No it's fine, really. You wanted to know what I could do since I wasn't doing anything. It's my fault really!" Jo panics, waving her hands.

Conner stares estranged, almost embarrassed. "_You would say it's your fault_," he mutters under his breath. But his stare changes upon studying Jo's face. As defensive and panicked and shy as she looked, he could tell by her eyes that something was still bothering her. However before he can say anything, something far more unsuspecting tension appears in the air.

"HELLO!" calls a distant voice from nowhere. It echoes a little "Conner! Conner can you hear me!"

"Andy…?" Jo whispers desperately, recognizing the voice.

It clicks in Conner's head. The kid's found a way to communicate with them all again. "BRAT! ANDY YOU THERE?!" Conner screams, jumping to his feet.

"Conner thank God!" Andy's echoing voice replies in relief. Faceless but as hearable as thunder.

"Andy is that you!" Jo shouts out as well, desperate for her little brother.

Link and Pit however are on guard, never having heard this 'Andy' before. Ace also looks quite unsure. "Who's this guy now?" Pit says aloud.

"Jo's little brother," Conner answers, walking around the room, as if Andy's image will appear magically. But he won't. "He's back in the real world, overseeing all of this so far from my TV. I think. He has a gaming headset and microphone and I think that's how he can hear and talk to us. Andy what's going on now!?"

"You have no idea," Andy's voice replies, tiresome. "But I see a bunch of you on screen. You're all together? Jo?"

"Yes Andy it's me. I found him," Jo smiles, glad to hear Andy's voice.

"What happened to before, dude!" Conner cries out. "You left me hanging in Eldin Bridge! I could've been killed!"

"Sorry. I haven't exactly done this before, you know," Andy says with an attitude. Conner can hear the kid fixing his headset microphone. "I managed to transfer the game to my laptop without turning it off." Conner is about to ask how, but stops after realizing it's irrelevant. Still, how do you move a Wii game from a console to a computer? Without shutting it off? Argh, whatever. What matters is the game is still on somehow. "Your Mom came in and after everything that happened here she was about to shut off the system."

Oh mom.

"So we really are in the game?" Ace figures out in disbelief.

"Wait what happened back home? What's going on back there, Andy," Conner demands.

"Well…" Andy starts off. "See… when all of you guys, Elise, Jo, even you Conner – after you guys jumped in and that freaky TV vortex closed, when I opened my eyes, you were all on the ground – like nothing happened."

"On the ground?" Conner asks like it's some kind of sick joke. "Don't mess with me, kid you were talking to me earlier! You didn't say anything about this before-!"

"Your bodies weren't waking up," Andy cuts off. Silence "I thought it was all a dream, but Elise wouldn't move and neither would you or Jo! The next thing I know, I see you on the freaking screen!" Andy sighs, quieting down. "You looked panicked as it is, Conner. I didn't feel it was worth telling you then."

"So where's my body now!? And Jo's and Elise's!"

"The paramedics arrived not too long after your mom found me. I didn't know what to make of it before so I didn't say anything then." Andy pauses. "Your bodies are being taken to the hospital right now as we speak."

"Our bodies," Jo repeats distantly. Ace also looks distraught. "So it's our minds that're stuck in the game."

"That's what it looks like," Andy's voice replies. "Right now I'm back home. Jo, Mom and Dad are heading to the hospital to check up with your body, but the game's still on through my computer so you don't have to worry about the game shutting down before you get out."

"Like we even know HOW to get out," Conner cries, feeling trapped and mad. "Even if we ever do find my sister, how do we get out of here?! We can't 'beat the game' because there IS nothing to beat here! And now, and now…!" _Our bodies are rotting away in the real world. Time is passing here as it is there. If I don't' find Elise soon, who knows what'll happen to us?_

Conner looks on desperately at Jo and Ace, who look quite worried themselves at this new revelation. _To all of us?_

What the hell is happening?

* * *

**Location: The Hub**

**Featured Character Profiles:**

**Ace:  
Partner: Pit**  
**Strength: SPEED**  
**Player Color: White**  
**Weapon: ?**  
**LIVES: 4 **

**Preview:**

_**Link nods. "And I need to check out the other Stages to see what's wrong. We should go."**_

_**"So soon?" Ace asks.**_

_**"I want to find my sister," Conner answers in agreement with Link, standing up calmly. "And the Hub isn't going anywhere. We'll come back if we get too roughed up."**_

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

_**"We're in Pokemon Stadium!" Conner realizes, and just as he says that, the stage begins to rumble and shake. And from the 'hole' in the center, a Pokeball platform begins to circle and rise, with a distinct shadow on it. The Stadium's lights turn on and shine upon the stranger. What an appearance.**_

_**His shadow looks villainous. His Priplup mask, as cute as it was, made him seem all the more frightening somehow. "Welcome, to Pokemon Stadium," says the man.**_

_**x-x-x-x-x**_

_**"We have to take that guy down! He's just going to keep on throwing those Pokeballs until there's no more room in the Stadium!"**_

_**"Then how do we get to him!?"**_

_**Jo looks around desperately, before seeing Ace and Pit up in the sky, trying to attack the Pokemon from the air. "With Pit," she answers in a whisper.**_


	5. Pokemon Stadium

_**CHAPTER 5/ POKEMON STADIUM: Masked Dude Attacks!**_

_**After discovering the truth of their situation, Conner and his newfound allies journey out to the rest of the game to find his sister. However in the next Smash Brothers Stage they enter, a crazed masked **_**adversary** **who battles with the Pokeball Items attacks. **

* * *

"This is so messed up," Jo says. Everyone was sitting together on the couches, with Andy's voice still present. After the boy revealed to everyone the reality back home, the mood from earlier had died. The kids were depressed, and lost.

"I don't even know what's happening on my end," Ace picks up. "Who knows what's happening to my body, or if my game's even on anymore. Knowing my family they probably turned it off."

"But you're still here," Conner says seriously. "So if anything, turning the game off won't kill you."

"Maybe," Andy's faceless voice announces. "But I should keep mine on until you get back. Maybe if at least someone in there still has the game on then- I don't know," Andy sighs.

"Makes me wonder if there're more of you running around this place," Pit scoffs.

Conner looks up towards the ceiling. "What time is it back home anyway?"

Andy's yawn slightly answer's his question, but Andy answers anyway. "It's almost 7:00 in the morning. I pulled an all-nighter trying to establish a wifi connection so I could talk to you guys." They've been in there for more than twelve hours. It doesn't feel like it, but wow. "Listen guys, I have to go to school soon, so I'm gonna go now. But I'll leave the game on under my bed with the charger in. I'll come back as soon as I can to check up on you again."

"Don't tell Mom or Dad about any of this okay!" Jo says suddenly, spooking the rest. She looks away, flustered. "My parents are worry-warts alright? They wouldn't get all this and it'd just cause more trouble."

"It's probably best no one from home knew, actually," Ace speaks up. "At least until we know more about the situation to call for help."

"Agreed," Andy says. "I'll look around during school to see if there're any more kids in sudden comas around the city. But hey – just so you know, I can establish a better connection to you guys when you're in the Hub Stage."

"So we can talk to you when we're here. Got it," Conner finalizes, and then Andy's gone. A few seconds of silence pass as the group realizes their only connection to the real world is gone. Hopefully only for now.

"W-ow," Pit blinks, standing up and stretching his arms. "Things around here suddenly got interesting."

"This isn't something to joke about," Link says seriously. "While these guys are here, there's weird activity happening on our end too, you know. Haven't you seen anything out of the ordinary in the other Stages?"

Pit still looks mad at Link, but he thinks for a moment. "Well, now that you mention it there's been more obstacles in the clouds of Skyworld. I just figured it was nothing."

"Well it's something," Link says, earning a glare from Pit. Link looks to Conner. "We can't stay in here forever. You're still looking for your sister, aren't you?"

"I was just thinking that."

Link nods. "And I need to check out the other Stages to see what's wrong. We should go."

"So soon?" Ace asks.

"I want to find my sister," Conner answers in agreement with Link, standing up calmly. "And the Hub isn't going anywhere. We'll come back if we get too roughed up."

"Then let us go with you," Ace smiles, only for his partner Pit to freak out. "I hate the idea of splitting up now that we've found company. Besides, if you guys run into trouble you could use our help."

Conner looks hesitant about dragging more people into his mission. "I guess… If you're sure you wanna go. I'm not forcing you or anything."

"Oh no. Not at all man," Ace laughs, walking up to his friend. Conner returns with a content smile.

Jo walks up as well. "I'm going too-"

"No you're not," Conner say flatly, stopping her with a strong poke to the forehead. "It's too dangerous. You're staying here in this Stage."

"W-What no way! I wanna go too! Don't leave me here!" Jo begins to flail as Conner tries to sit her back down on the couch. They physical fight almost turns comical to their onlookers.

"Um," Pit watches. "Do they do this often?"

"I guess," Link replies, unsure.

"Hey this isn't for fun you know/!"

"Of course I know that's why I need to go! How will I know what's happening with you if I can't see you!"

"Doesn't matter you bookworm just stay here and wait for Andy then!"

"She should come," Link speaks calmly, indirectly halting the two in their physical struggle.

"What-! Whose side are you on!?" Conner barks.

Link shrugs sheepishly. "Believe it or not, her defense stats are the highest out of all of us, even for Pit and me. She could help if we bring her along."

Conner feels even more defeated with the idea of all these tag-alongs. But Link had a point. Her ridiculously high defense powers saved him even. He had nothing to say. They could use this time to observe her more in action – only Conner didn't want her anywhere near the action. "Whatever," Conner brushes off, untangling himself from Jo, indirectly knocking her over to the couch. Whatever. She landed. "Just don't mess up."

Jo glares at the back of her friend's head. "Geez. Ground me with chains why don't you."

Ace looks back and forth between them, feeling slightly out of place. "Hey if we're all going, we should gather some supplies and take what we can from the Hub. Who knows when we'll be back here."

With Ace's suggestion, everyone splits off for a bit. Link goes into the gym, probably to train himself a bit. And Ace and Pit leave to go find some more food. This leaves Jo and Conner alone, him standing and her awkwardly sitting in the couch from when she was shoved.

They're silent for a while before Jo finally gets up, walking away without a word. In the lobby of the Hub, there's a huge glass wall, revealing a white balcony through a glass door. What's below the Hub who knows, but it's an outside with a sky, and that's where she's going. Conner stands along with himself before giving in and ultimately following.

He slides open the glass door and is met with a familiar cool breeze that feels too real.

Jo's standing near the wall of the balcony, learning her arms over it as she looks out. To the endless green _way_ below. No way accessible from up here. "It's a nice view," Jo says, hearing Conner from the doors. "As nice as a virtual world can get, anyway."

Conner purses his lips together and the door slides shut behind him. "How'd you lose your first life?" Conner finally asks, walking up beside her. "I meant to ask you before but, I never got the chance."

"No it's okay." Jo's rubbing her hands on her forearms, a quality about her Conner's picked up over the years when she gets nervous. "When I landed in the game first, I was alone. And I was scared. Careless." Jo shakes her head, but Conner continues to listen. "It was stupid, but the fact of the matter is I have three lives left. That's… it."

"What did it feel like to die?" Conner asks.

He wonders if it's a too out there question, but she answers anyway. "Scary… I felt like I was disappearing, and then, nothing. And it's not like time passing by or sleeping or anything like that but… for a second, it felt like… I was…gone… nonexistent… if you can understand that." Jo tries a smile as she shakes her head. "Sorry. It sounds weird coming from me. And it really was only for a second but…"

Conner stops her, holding her shoulder. She looked so uncomfortable talking about it. He's heard enough. "I'll make sure you don't lose any more lives," Conner says without looking at her. But by their reflections in the glass he's facing, she's looking at him. Conner's face reddens a little. He's not used to saying cheesy stuff like this, as serious as he was. "I guess that's why I'm trying so hard to keep you from doing too much." He narrows his eyes, squeezing his hand slightly. "If dying once is as bad as it sounds… I don't want you going through that again."

"I know," Jo says, ever so quietly. His hand is still on her shoulder. "And I wouldn't want you to go through it, either."

Conner's head rises, and with courage he looks at his one friend. True he had school friends - acquaintances. Maybe even Ace passed the acquaintance level into friends. But Jo had always been there. Conner always figured it was never by her choice. Their families were babysitting together. They were friends whether they liked it or not. But now, in a place like this, Conner could really see what Jo was to him. A valuable friend worth protecting and getting home.

"We'll find your sister," Jo smiles confidently. "We'll bring her home."

"I'll make sure you get home too," Conner assures. He cracks a smile at her. "Who else's butt will I kick at Super Smash Brothers every day?"

Jo laughs and punches his arm. "Bully," Jo smiles. "Come on. Let's get back to the others." Jo goes on to walk back inside, but Conner stops after the first step. Jo looks back over her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Conner agrees half-heartedly. But there's one more thing on his mind. "Jo?... Why did you stick with me all this time?"

It's such a general question that runs so much deeper. Luckily Jo got the message without too much more from Conner. "Well," she says slowly. "I, don't know, Conner. We're friends. Do I need a reason to, 'stick around'?"

"You and I both know I'm not that good a guy. I'm not nice, and, I don't ever really have good-hearted intentions most of the time. And, you're…"

"I'm…" Jo mocks, expecting a follow-up insult or joke.

"Nice," Conner sums up. That was the simplest word he could come up with. "You suck at Brawl but, you're talented. You're smart and you care about people. I just don't understand why you let me drag you down."

Jo stares for a long time before her face goes back to her same old sweet smile that Conner never understood. She comes up to him and hugs him gently. "You were a wreck when your dad left," Jo says straightforwardly. "I didn't blame you for the way you acted after. Besides, I knew the real you already. And you're not a bad person." Jo lets him go and holds her hands on his shoulders. "You're brave, and intuitive. One of the smartest people I know. You'll get us out of here and I'm with you before, during and after."

Conner laughs a little. "Could you be any cheesier?"

"You asked," Jo points out. True.

Before long everyone is back in the main room. With the unofficial team now settled, Link goes on to create the portal to the next random Stage. "Everyone stay close," Link warns, and they enter the purple light. As soon as everyone's in, the portal in the Hub closes, leaving no trace of its visitors.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In their new Stage, the portal opens and everyone appears through, Jo holding her head. "I'll never get used to that," Jo says, eyes looking everywhere from slight dizziness. After she regains herself, he notices the unusual area around them. "Where're we?"

"Not sure," Conner says, looking around. It's a green platform with a hole in the middle, and darkness surrounded the outside. Not a very recognizable stage, making it even more tense. However, a light shoots up from the hole in the center of the platform, in the shape of a lightning strike. Everyone holds their ground until the light turns into this creature. It's a Pokemon, being let out of its Pokeball. A-

"Torchic?" Conner blinks.

"There are Pokeball items," says Pit, hovering over them and towards the Torchic. "Aw aren't you a cutie."

Everyone stands back a little hesitant. One more thing Conner learned about Pokemon on Smash Brothers: super annoying and damage-inducing creatures if they're not yours.

As if on cue, Torchic begins firing ember attacks and emitting a huge radius of fire around it, burning Pit and causing everyone to stand back from the heat waves. Link stands guard of the humans while Pit remains in front, black from Torchic's attack. "Not cute," Pit winces, arms twitching.

"We're in Pokemon Stadium!" Conner realizes, and just as he says that, the stage begins to rumble and shake. And from the 'hole' in the center, a Pokeball platform begins to circle and rise, with a distinct shadow on it. The Stadium's lights turn on and shine upon the stranger. What an appearance.

"Welcome, to Pokemon Stadium," says the voice. He's dressed in all black, and wears a magnificent cape. He turns around to everyone, and it's a humanoid shape but… he has a Priplup mask over his face. Any dark or intimidating effect he had on everyone – it w diminished in a second. The masked stranger tilts his face. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Conner manages out, rather freaked out by the stranger. _Who the hell is this guy?_ "Whatever – were you the one who tossed that Torchic to attack us?!"

The man with the Priplup mask tilts his head again. "Ah, so you're the intruders I overheard. Funny – there's so many of you. Oh my gosh it's like a party." He sounds so… calmly flamboyant, if there's such a thing.

"And there's one of you," Ace forwards, standing next to Conner to protect Jo. "Conner."

"I know," Conner heeds, already knowing what he's thinking. Can't trust this guy. "Link who is this?"

"Beats me," Link says in front.

"You guys look like you want to leave," the masked man says. "Well we can't have that now can we." From his cape, the masked mall pulls out multiple Pokeballs in-between his fingers, and everyone shrinks back a bit. "Come on. Let's party first."

Tossing the balls up in the air, just as they hit the ground, they transform into random Pokemon, bent on attacking anyone that isn't their master. A Deoxys, a Groudon, a Metagross, a Latias, an Electrode – and much more terrifying ones.

"G-Guys," Jo panics, Ace and Conner shaking in front of her.

"RUN!" The gang begins to run as the Pokemon charge. Pit flies and picks up Ace as Link and Conner run, Conner holding Jo with a tight grip around the hand. It's an amazing chase of who can catch who, and the Masked man behind it all stands up on an floating platform, laughing at the chaos. "RN JO RUN COME ON!"

"Look out!"

The three tumble as they dodge a beam from a Suicune, and then rush to a skidded halt as they almost run into an Electrode, and they all knew what this Pokemon did. A huge explosion and an instant KO.

"They're everywhere!" Link yells. And the Pripplup man just keeps on tossing more and more Pokeballs.

"We have to find some Pokeballs. They've gotta be laying around somewhere," Jo says breathlessly, barely able to keep up with Conner and Link – even with Conner's iron grip. With Conner and Link leading the way, with no time to look to the ground, he takes it upon herself to find them. _I see one!_

With a risky pull from Conner's grip, she shoots herself towards the Pokeball amidst the madness. "Got it!" Jo yells as she skids across the ground.

Conner stop and turn around, seeing a Weaville approaching the girl. "Jo!"

"Pokeball go!" Jo yells from the ground, tossing the ball into the air. As the huge light fades, everyone looks on – in for an anticlimactic appearance of the Pokemon Gouldeen.

The goldfish Pokemon echoes its name as it flails up and down from the ground, _useless_. "Oh my God," Ace watches from the air, still being carried by Pit.

"W-W-Wha…" Jo watches, only to be swiped by Conner to her feet and back into the run. "Con-"

"That's it! No more Pokeballs for you!" Conner lectures as he and Link run even faster. "Geezus Christ Jo that could'v been a real good Pokemon!"

"It's not my fault I got Gouldeen!"

"Would you two just shut up and run!" Link screams, looking back. Although while he does, he sees the Masked man up on his pedestal. "We have to take that guy down! He's just going to keep on throwing those things until there's no more room in the Stadium!"

"Then how do we get to him!?"

Jo looks around desperately, before seeing Ace and Pit up in the sky, trying to attack the Pokemon from the air. "With Pit," she answers in a whisper.

However Conner hears her and looks up. The stadium lights blind his eyes, but he can see the shadow of the angel's wings and Ace's dangling legs. "We gotta get into the air. YO ACE!" He can see his head turn. "WE NEED TO TACK THE GUY FROM THE AIR!"

"Way ahead of you man!" Ace acknowledges, and they run down into their new wing it plan.

Pit hovers high above the stadium. "I'm gonna drop you in – use your speed and be careful!"

"Got it."

Pit lets go of his partner as Ace falls towards the masked man. However before Ace can tackle him, the Masked man dodges with a simple and whimsical movement. "So fast," the man humors. He notices Ace's arm too. "You got some damage from that fall, you know."

"No shit!" Ace yells, trying to land another punch. Using his speed to try and throw the man off, his constant whimsical dodges just continue to aggravate Ace. _Why can't I hit him?! It's like he's not even trying!_

Pit dives down in near the running ground-bound trio. "I've dropped in Ace! Who's next!"

"Get Jo first to safety on one of the platforms! Keep her away from that guy!" Conner orders. And before Jo can protest, she's already getting carried into the air by the arms. Just in time he and Link dodge a huge fire blast from an Entei. "So what's the plan now?"

"You take Pit and join Ace up on the platform they're on. I'll catch up with you from the ground and try to jump on."

Pit's coming down. "Alright. Meet you on the flipside." Conner holds his arms open and pit scoops him up.

The Pokemon Stadium has two floating platforms above it. With Ace and the masked man on the left one, Jo is situated 'safely' on the right, away from the Pokemon way below and he oncoming battle across. She sits on her knees and arms, having just been dropped off by Pit. The angel had just gone to get Conner, but Jo could already see the level of difficulty Ace was having on his own. And he was _fast_. But somehow it wasn't enough.

"I can't even do anything from here," Jo mutters to herself. Pit flies up sky high, blowing a gust of wind through her hair. And with that, he drops Conner down into the other Platform, and he tries to strike the Priplup man with his Beam Sword. Of course, the man somehow dodges with a simple sway to the side. They wouldn't even let her fight, not that she could anyway.

Jo's hands grip together on the ground into fists. She holds out her hands to try and produce some kind of blue energy field like before, but all she manages to do is make that protective bubble around herself – no way helpful to her friends across and away.

Her eyes falter, and she watches helplessly as Jo and Ace and Pit fight.

"This damn guy won't hold still!" Conner says, swinging his sword left and right. He's careful not to hit Ace but accidentally hits Pt with the bottom of his sword by accident after the masked man does a 90 degree bend backwards, as if he were some limbo master. "AAARGH!" Pit cries, holding his head.

"Heh, my bad," Conner says sheepishly. Secretly a part of him felt Pit deserved it, Pit being the person he is. Oh well. Bad humor.

"HIYAAAA!" Out of no where, Link jumps up in an attempt to impale their foe, and somehow he manages to scratch him. A tear in the cape a bit.

"He hit him," Jo gasps, unable to tear her eyes away from the match hovering over the chaotic Pokemon. However, she sees something she probably wasn't supposed to. _Tattoos_.

"Alright guy, it's four against one," Conner pants, all four cornering the man with the Priplup Mask. "You give up?"

"I dunno," he replies carefree.

Conner olds his Beam Sword at the guy's neck. "You're really starting to piss me off," Conner mutters.

"But seriously," the masked foe says, as if there _weren't_ a sword at his neck. "What would you gain from defeating me anyway? Another life? Any less damage? There really is no point in fighting with me, you know."

_THEN WHY THE HELL WS THE GUY ATTACKNG US IN THE FIRST PLACE_?!

"It's kind of late, but I think four on one isn't very fair," the stranger points out, snapping his fingers. On cue, a little pink creature comes out from behind Link and Pit, walking into the circle between them.

"Jigglypuff!" the little Pokemon salutes. It's voice is high pitched and each step it makes emits a squeak-like sound. "Jiggly-jiggly!"

Conner tries his best to maintain a steady face, but it's impossible to not look confused. _Yeah… this totally evens the odds_. "This is your backup?" Conner manages.

"Mhm," the stranger nods. "Out of all the Pokemon here, this Jigglypuff is the strongest!"

Pit, Conner, Ace, and Link all look in in an embarrassed state of disbelief. Overhearing all the crashing and explosions below them from all the other released Pokemon, compared to Jigglypuff well… Yeah. "I highly doubt that," all four say together in unison. Is this guy nuts?

"A Jigglypuff…" Jo observes from a distance. "Wait. Can't be." Suddenly Jo gasps, and her hand flies to her mouth. She knew who he was. "STOP!" Jo screams, desperate for them to hear her over all the noise. "Stop fighting!" But no one could hear her from her distance.

"Best not to underestimate Jigglypuff," the stranger warns with a waving finger before jumping up and out of his cornered circle. Jiggly puff inflates and becomes something of a carrier for the masked stranger.

"Link Sync up!" Conner cries out, him and Link jumping into the air.

"Us, too Pit!" Ace calls, flying away into the skies.

Now synced up, Conner controls some of Link's movements with combos and buttons from game memory, all while Conner's own swordsmanship skills boost up. All the while, Jo is watching from up her high platform, shouting for an end to the fighting.

Conner and Link both ump across the tall Pokemon to reach Jigglypuff and the masked man. He reaches into his cape to pull out more Pokemon. Even Ace and Pit synced up are pretty good. Ace is able to mimic Pit's arrow-shooting from the air.

"CONNER!" Link calls across the stadium. "CONNER LOOK UP!"

Conner blocks a beam from a Suicune and looks up. And instead of the hot blinding stadium light, he sees a familiar blue circular light – a Smash Ball. Conner looks to Link with Urgency and agrees mentally somehow that they have to get it.

"Smash Ball?" Pit overhears. However he couldn't see it, and apparently neither could Ace.

Link and Conner both run across the tops of the tallest Pokemon, avoiding the masked man, and they hit the Smash Ball once with their swords, landing on opposite sides of the stadium. "One more," Conner pants. His damage from battle is already at 38%. Conner screams as he and Link shoot up into the air again. Their swords clash into the Smash Ball, and it's broken into a huge light brighter than the overhead stadium lights.

Ace and Pt cover their eyes, and the light blows away all the excess Pokemon.

Jo shields her eyes with her arm, an when she lowers it, she finds a shillouete of a floating figure. But it's not Link, or Conner. And yet… "No way."

Conner and Link had fused once more from the power of the Smash Ball. Pit stares in disbelief while Ace's eyes widen. "Is that them?" Ace watches. Pit says nothing, but his eyes watch on in jealousy.

"_The power of the Smash Ball_," Link's voice says inside Conner's mind. "_Focus on the enemy. You get one shot_."

Conner scoffs, feeling the energy coursing through his veins. "You don't have to tell me twice." His sword glows, and he prepares for his special attack. If only he could see the expression behind that Pripplup mask. The man stands on top of his floating Jigglypuff, starring up.

"TRIFORCE STRIKE!" Conner yells as the energy surrounds his sword. A Triforce shape appears beneath Jigglypuff and the masked man, connecting the attacker and his target. "AAAAARRGHHHHH!" Conner flies down, ready to finally rid the game of this enemy.

"Conner no!" Jo shouts, and suddenly Jo in her giant blue forcefield comes between Conner and the Priplup man. The triforce symbol moves underneath the blue force field and, unable to stop, Conner begins attacking Jo's defense instead.

_NO! STOP!_

Jo struggles, floating inside the shield, trying to maintain it as Conners Smash Hit continues to slash across the force field. _Please, hold up! Just a bit longer!_ She could feel her shield shrinking a little, and her body was beginning to feel the strain of the attack. However Conner and Link's attack finishes, and Conner floats up in the air staring at what he'd just done.

Jo's shield gives out and no longer floating, begins to fall to the ground. However, the masked man jumps off his Jigglypuff and drives in to catch Jo's body. He's about to crash into the ground until a force of air magically slow his landing – and Jo's.

The Smash Ball's power leaves, Conner, and separates him and Link as they fall to the ground as well. "Conner!" Ace calls out, him and Pit flying down. _Amazing. Her shield was able to withstand a Smash Ball hit. Not even in the game can anyone shield themselves from a Smash Hit_.

The man stands up and lets Jo onto the ground. And the first thing she runs to is Conner and Link. "Conner! Conner are you alright?!" Jo panics, sitting him up in her arms. Even Link sits up, stuggling and not knowing whether his Partner was alright.

Conner begins to faintly open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is Jo. Instantly awake, his eyes widen at what he'd almost done. "Jo."

"Thank God you're alright," Jo smiles. She hugs him against her, and Conner sits there, letting himself be held in her arms. But he can't stop thinking about it. _I almost killed Jo_.

While in their hug, Jo sees Link begin to walk towards Jigglypuff an d the masked man, dragging his sword tiredly behind him. "Link wait. I know who he is," Jo calls.

The Priplup man stands straight, letting her down. "Do you?"

"I'm surprised I didn't' recognize you before," she says seriously. "The mask. The Jigglypuff." Ace and Pit finally land as well. "I saw your player tattoos. On your arm?" Jo says weakly to the masked enemy.

The stranger exhales through the plastic mask. "Well, that was fun." The black-clothed man takes hold of the mask and removes it from his face, revealing totally human teen – just like them. He had fair skin and the happiest yet calmest look on his face, and short black hair that fit his mischievous personality. "Do I know you?" he asks Jo.

Jo doesn't look taken back by not being recognized, if she was. But she nods, smiling. "Jo? From elementary school."

"Don't tell me she knows this weirdo," Pit panics, frozen in a confused arrow-ready-to-be-shot stance over the ground.

"Jo…" Conner strings out, still laying tired in her lap. "Talk."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Within a few moments, all the Pokemon were gone. Well, except for Jigglypuff. The two floating platforms above were empty, and everyone was back on the green ground, around the Pokeball symbol – a symbol also copied into the stranger's tattoos. Goes to show that Jigglpuff was probably this guy' Partner, of all Super Smash bros. characters.

"Salem the God Fighter?" Ace repeats after hearing Jo once. "Sorry sorry let me just run this through one more time – _you're_ THE Salem the God Fighter?"

"Heh, guilty," the guy 'Salem' grins, standing side by side next to an apologetic Jo.

She bows her head, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry guys! If I'd known it was him I would've-"

"You would've what," Salem laughs. "Let's face it, there was nothing you could do Jo, ha."

"You're still the same as ever," Jo frowns in a pout.

Conner watched, speechless. Back in the day of Meelee, before Super Smash Brothers Brawl came out on the Wii, there was a legendary fighter in the city, nicknamed 'The God Fighter'. He'd enter all the Melee tournaments in the game and toy stores, and just, win! Even Conner had heard of the name, but never paid much mind to it. Tournaments weren't his thing.

But apparently Ace knew. Secret nerd side to the top student of the school. "So this guy is supposed to be some super amazin gamer from the real world?" Conner asks Ace in disbelief.

"Totally. Undefeated champ with no face," Ace shrugs, still staring at the teen. "Some kid with a pokemon face mask would enter the tournament and just beat everyone off the stage with Jigglypuff. I'm surprised I didn't recognize him sooner, either."

Conner looks up at Ace with a dumbfounded face. _I'm surrounded_.

"So how do you two know each other again?" Link asks Jo and 'Salem', still a little lost.

"We went to school together when we were younger. He was like that big brother but," Jo says, looking up at Salem. "You're so tall now." Conner had always considered Ace tall. Salem was a close second. "He was always the best Super Smash Bros. player back then. Still now, apparently. Still do tournaments?"

"Not really," Salem smiles sheepishly. "I lay low, to focus on school a bit more. But I see you do."

"Not really," Jo frowns a little. She had nothing to brag about. "But this is Jo and Ace. Other players around here. And these are their partners, Pit and Link."

"Hey," Link says unsure. Pit just stares at the Priplup mask on the side of Salem's head, and Link has to elbow him.

"Hi," Pit says unwillingly.

Salem smiles. Conner had never seen someone who smiled so much. In a way he admired that about the guy, but there was always going to be something about him that ticked him off. "I'm Salem. And this is my Partner Jigglypuff."

Jiggly puff peeks out shyly behind Salem, before hiding back behind his legs. Such a strange partner, Conner thinks, but it suited someone like Salem. Then again, this 'God Fighter' had a reputation of fighting with such out of character, well, characters – his top fighters being Jigglypuff and Peach. And he won – every time. _Well, better an ally than an enemy I guess. The way he flung all those Pokeballs out, I wouldn't want to fight against him again_.

"How long have you been here, Salem?" Conner asks.

"I'm not sure. I've been stuck in the game for a while, I think. Landed in two other Stages before I was thrown in here with Jigglypuff. I decided to hide out in this Stage until, who knows?"

Conner takes another look at Salemn's arms. About 17% damage from the earlier fight and three hearts. Just like Jo. "What happened to your first life?" Conner interrogates.

Jo sends an accusing look at him but Salem's alright. "Oh that?" Salem asks, glancing at his left forearm. "In the last Stage I was in before Pokemon Stadium, there was this kid that was about to get blown off the stage. I jumped in front of her and felt my first KO."

Conner's heart skips a beat. "Was it a little girl?"

Salem tries to remember. "Fair skinned, wavy hair?"

"Yeah. She's my sister. Do you know where she is?" Conner asks frantically. Jo glances up at Salem as Ace, Link, and Pit look on.

Salem's flat smile flattens more until he's frowning guiltily. "Sorry. By the time I revived, everyone was gone. She could've escaped. Jigglypuff and I had beaten the last enemy there."

"But she was there," Conner holds onto. His sister. Elise was there. She's still alive in the game somewhere. "What stage was it you saw her in?"

"The New Pork City Stage," says Salem. "Big night-city. You sure you want to go?"

"I have to find that girl. She's my little sister."

"I see," Salem says thoughtfully, stoking his chin. "It's a pretty weird Stage going in. You could appear anywhere and you fall down pretty far."

"Come with us, then," Jo says, and Conner and Ace mentally curse. God Fighter or not, the guy still ticked them off. He was just playing with them earlier! "If you know the Stage that well you could help."

"Alright," Salem nods, smiling again. "But like I said, if we get lost, meet at the top of the tallest building platform."

Link is already creating the portal. "How big could this stage be?" Link mutters to Pit. The angel shrugs, and Conner feels uneasy. But he's willing to do whatever it takes to find his little sister.

* * *

**Location: Pokémon Stadium**

**Featured Character Profiles:**

**Salem:  
Partner: Jigglypuff**  
**Strength: Aim**  
**Player Color: Yellow**  
**Weapon: Pokeballs**  
**LIVES: 3**

**No preview this time, but I made some concept art on my deviantart and tumblr of the characters for anyone interested :)  
**

** My Deviantart: MemorySoul  
Tumblr: sammakesamess**


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